Yahoo Sports Exclusive: EastEnders star Perry Fenwick praises change to Lola's exit episodes
EastEnders star Perry Fenwick has praised a last-minute change that was made to one of Lola Pearce-Brown's final scenes.
Lola's penultimate episode saw her share a deeply moving moment with her grandfather Billy Mitchell, who said his goodbyes at her bedside.
After being released from police custody following a violent moment with Nish Panesar and Jack Branning on the Square, Billy rushed to be with Lola and told her how much he loved her.
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Lola was nearing the end following her terminal diagnosis, but she opened her eyes for long enough to tell Billy that she loved him too.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy on the red carpet at the British Soap Awards 2023, Perry revealed how this scene made the final episodes all the more emotional to film.
Danielle Harold, who played Lola, had suggested the line herself after getting the blessing of an EastEnders medical advisor.
Perry told Digital Spy: "Danielle put in a line that wasn't in the scripts. It was when she woke up and she said 'I love you too, Pops' and then a little tear came down. That sent me going!
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"Danielle added it and it wasn't in the scripts. That did eventually become Lola's last words. We were in bits.
"We had to take a decent break afterwards, after doing some scenes. But Danielle has been fantastic."
He continued: "It was hard, because we've got a parallel story going on. We've got Billy, Honey and Lola – and Perry and Emma and Danielle. So a lot of the scenes are very much about her going. Okay, it's not the same as the story, but it's still tears of sadness.
"It was a tough schedule, but we all committed to it. We ended up calling Danielle 'Thames Water', because she could turn on the tears like that!"
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Emma Barton, who plays Honey, echoed Perry's warm words for Danielle.
She said: "The detail she went into, the homework that she did, making sure that everything was correct medically, was outstanding.
"You never stop learning in this industry and we've learned so much from lovely Danielle – from her work and her choices. It's been incredible to watch and we're really proud.
"The reaction from your followers – and on Twitter and on Insta has just been crazy and it hasn't gone unnoticed."
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.
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Organisations including Brain Tumour Research, Macmillan Cancer Support and Stand Up to Cancer can provide help and support to those living with brain cancer and their loved ones.
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