Ashley Taylor Dawson interview
Monday 11 August

We caught up with Ashley Taylor Dawson (Darren) to chat about the crazy mess that Darren has found himself in following Jack's fake death..

Darren has had some crazy ideas in his time but this one about Jack faking his death is taking it a step further. How have they let themselves get in so deep?
I think it's because they're in such a big rut anyway with the loan sharks and the money and Darren does take the blame for everything and feels sorry for his dad. After finding his dad committing suicide which is the worst thing that could happen, especially to Darren as Jack is his only family really, I think he is blown away.

As they get over that they have a big chat and everything and they find this body. Darren being Darren comes up with this fantastic idea and I think it is just the heat of the moment, he thinks that's the solution. This way he gets to get all the money and his dad stays alive and to him at the time, and they haven't had any sleep you have to remember, and because of the stress of it all I think he genuinely thinks that is a brilliant idea.

How do you think Jack and Darren expect to get away with it? Like I say, they were very tired, they hadn't had any sleep, and they'd had a row the night before...They are that desperate that at the time everything seemed easy. All they have to do is fake the death, take the money, pay off the loan sharks and then they can go and live in Spain and everything will be fantastic. But anybody would know that's not a great idea, especially in this day and age with the police and everything, and as time goes by they realise that they are digging a hole and it's getting worse and worse.

We see a more sensitive side of Darren when it comes to his relationship with his dad and even with Steph during the Max death stuff. Do you enjoy playing this side of Darren?
I love it, playing all this stuff has been fantastic. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing all the emotional scenes and it also shows that Darren is just a wally. He always tries to do the right thing, and he probably thinks he's doing the right thing, but if there is a shortcut going he'll take it because he thinks he'll get away with it.

I think all the stuff I have had recently has been my favourite time on HOLLYOAKS and it has shown that Darren has more sides to him than just being an idiot.

Why do think that Jack kept all these worries to himself for so long?
Well Jack has taken a lot on all his life with foster kids and I think that’s why Darren is such a troubled child as he doesn't really feel that he is wanted. Finally he's got this family, it's all going well and then slowly one by one things get worse and worse and then the pub goes under.

The pub is the one thing that Jack has always had control of and when it fails because of him giving the money to Darren he feels responsible so he doesn't want to tell Frankie about it. He feels it's his problem, he'll solve it, he's the man of the house and I think that is the one thing he has got.

Are we going to see the end of the Osborne/Dean family because of this storyline?
I think deep down Jack and Frankie love each other and they've never really had any problems. Again I think it is Darren who has put this wedge in between them, just as her kids have done.

I think in their heart of hearts they do love each other and they will find a way through it. I think the justice of it all will come out in the end and everything will be ok, at least between them two.

Are we going to see Darren get himself a girlfriend at any time soon?
He does get an interest in Cindy but I think it's more just on the sex side which he is enjoying. I think Darren thinks that she is an idiot, and she thinks that he is an idiot and they are just using each other. She's using him for money; he's using her for sex. Whether that goes any further I don't know...

If you could choose, what would you like the future to bring for Darren?
I don't know. I'd like to go absolutely nuts and turn into a psycho but then if you do that it means you're leaving because you'll be written out. I just find it interesting getting my scripts and finding out like that...I enjoy anything that's challenging. This storyline has been great and I've thoroughly enjoyed doing it, I think that's when you learn most.

Is this storyline going to be the one to change Darren and see him grow up a bit?
Yeah if he gets through everything without being bitter and twisted and not cynical. If he learns from it I think it will definitely change him but it could go the other way and he might blame everyone other than himself. I don't know which way it is going to go at the minute.

Clearly there are parallels between this storyline and the story of the Darwin family which has been in the media recently. Did the writers take inspiration from this story?
No, I genuinely found out about the storyline before anyone knew about the real life version. When I first read the storyline about faking a death I thought it was so far fetched but with it being a soap you kind of accept this and get on with it. Literally a week later the Darwin story came out in the news for the first time. So fair play to the writers, in a way they were ahead of their time, especially in the way they have portrayed the grief within the family. It backs the storyline up but I'm not sure if will cause controversy as it is a really sensitive issue.

If your a fan of Darren then check out Ashley Taylor Dawson's cast profile.