‘I have to get out of here’: Hollywood star reveals why he quit EastEnders
Ben Hardy opened up about how he really felt about his time on EastEnders as the sixth version of Peter Beale.
The actor, 33, was involved in one of the biggest soap storylines when his on-screen sister Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) was killed by their half-brother Bobby (then Eliot Carrington).
Following her death viewers were gripped as an intricate whodunnit story unfolded. The effects of the incident still loom large over the Walford residents.
Peter couldn’t live with the family’s decision to try to keep Bobby’s actions secret, so he moved to New Zealand. His girlfriend Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) gave birth to their son Louie and they joined Peter in his new life.
As we now know, all three characters have since returned – with Thomas Law, who played Peter between 2006 and 2010, reprising the role.
However, it seems that memories of the soap still resurface for Ben, as he recently revealed that at the time, he felt he was losing himself in the process of filming.
Speaking to the Independent, he said: ‘I had been battling it for a year, how to make things work.
‘I have so much respect for everyone who works on that show. [But] I felt myself getting lazy as an actor, I felt myself constantly going “This scene doesn’t work.”
He added: ‘Like I was trying to make a diamond out of something that can’t be a diamond. That laziness scared me. I [said], “I have to get out of here.”
Since leaving Walford, Ben has gone on to become a Hollywood star, playing Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor in the acclaimed biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. He also achieved superhero status as Angel in X-Men: Apocalypse, as well as having lead roles in other films, TV and theatre.
Viewers have also recently seen him in a completely different role – alongside Jason Patel in his movie Unicorns – a love story between an Essex car mechanic and a South Asian drag queen.
‘It is about inclusivity, about people loving whoever they want to love,’ Ben said. ‘I think if people walk out of this movie and go, “That was a beautiful love story,” then that’s the reaction that we want.’
With all of the roles that he’s taken since leaving Walford, Ben credits EastEnders with being his ‘screen education,’ he said.
‘I felt much more comfortable going to work on films, having had that day-in/day-out training of just all the technical stuff you don’t want to be thinking about on set. It becomes muscle memory, like, “Where have I got to be? Where’s the camera? What lens are we on?” All that kind of stuff.’
This article was originally published on 9th July 2024.
