In an exclusive interview with thesuns.info, EastEnders actress Heather Peace revealed she made a deal with BBC executives to guarantee her character Eve Unwin “would never be killed off.”
The 47-year-old Heather Peace explained that she accepted her position at EastEnders “on one condition.” Shortly after winning Best Newcomer at the 2022 Inside Soap Awards on Monday, the actress spoke to thesuns,info and discussed why it was crucial that her character never dies.
In the well-known BBC series, Heather plays Eve Unwin, who falls in love with Suki, the matriarch of the Panesar family, who is portrayed by Balvinder Sopal.
Many actors are unsure of when their characters’ time is up because of the ups and downs of soap operas.
Due to the unfortunate trope that frequently sees lesbian characters die tragic deaths in TV shows, books, and movies, Heather made sure that this would not be the case for her character Eve.
Numerous well-known programs, including The 100, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and Orange is the New Black, contain examples of the aforementioned trope.
Heather said of the troubling trend: “I’m very aware of this, I understand my community, and I read a lot.
“I conducted a radio program where we discussed this. Lesbians experience unfortunate outcomes more frequently than other people, by a significant margin.
“You want to get rid of me? is the only thing I did say to the producers,” she continued. They’re also very talkative.
“I said, ‘You can get rid of me at any time, but I’m pleading with you right now: Don’t kill her off.
Don’t murder the lesbian,’ Let’s avoid that cliche. Let’s not leave it like that if it no longer suits you that I’m here and there are no more stories or whatever.
That was literally my only stipulation, and they’ve agreed, she happily added.
Heather previously gained notoriety for her role as the teacher Nikki Boston in the school-themed drama series Waterloo Road on BBC One in addition to her role as Eve in EastEnders.
Heather, who appeared in the series from 2012 to 2014, expressed her delight that the well-liked series is coming back in the first quarter of 2023.
She continued by saying that the BBC had taken her suggestions into account regarding Nikki’s exit from the show.
They paid attention to me on that as well, she said, “because it was a happy love story ending for my character.”
On Waterloo Road, many educators and students perished tragically, but Nikki’s ended happily.
Her departure from the school and relocation to Berlin with her love interest Vix Spark were featured in her final episode (Kristin Atherton).
Heather has also made appearances in the drama series The Chase by Kay Mellor and the BBC Scotland drama Lip Service in addition to EastEnders and Waterloo Road.
Ellie Dickinson, her wife of three years, and she have three daughters together.
Tonight on BBC One at 8 p.m., EastEnders will resume.
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