Exclusive: Hollyoaks star Rita Simons on Marie role delay and dramatic new storylines
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Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks fans can expect dramatic scenes this week as former EastEnders star Rita Simons makes an explosive debut as Marie Fielding.
Marie, who's the mum of Joel Dexter and Abe Fielding, has a chaotic first week in the village as she fights for forgiveness from her sons, reconnects with old flame Warren Fox and clashes with Mercedes McQueen.
Show bosses announced Rita's casting in July last year, so there's been a long wait to see her first scenes.
In an exclusive chat with Digital Spy, Rita explained the delay and teased her future storylines.
Fans have been looking forward to your first scenes – are you excited that the moment is finally here?
"I'm relieved that the moment's finally here because it seems to have been announced 5,000 years ago! (Laughs.) There is a reason – it's because I was supposed to be in the big January stunt, but I was already booked to do panto and I couldn't let them down.
"My panto was way down south – even further south than where I was living at the time. So Hollyoaks had to reconfigure everything, but it had already been leaked to the press by that point.
"I seem to have been living in a Groundhog Day of people asking: 'When are you starting? When are you starting?' But now I'm here!"
How would you describe Marie?
"She's trouble! Marie is a complex character. She's not Roxy Mitchell by any means, but there are little bits of Roxy in her and that's only because Roxy has little parts of Rita.
"Marie is a mum with a heart of gold. She's a hard worker. She's honest, probably to a fault. But she's got issues – she's got baggage, she's been abused, and she's just come out of prison when she comes into the village.
"Marie is mum to Joel and Abe – and she also has another son. So she's got three boys that she loves with all her heart, but she has really screwed up with parenting because she's so damaged.
"She's trying to make it right, but the boys don't want to let her forget her past mistakes in a hurry. Ultimately Marie is a bit of a mess with a heart of gold, and she's also a real tough cookie."
What is Marie's relationship with Abe like?
"Marie and Abe actually have a very interesting dynamic that I think can be explored further. They have a bizarre co-dependent relationship. They are so close, but Abe secretly hates Marie for what she's done as a parent.
"Marie has just been a rubbish mum, through no fault of her own. It's because she needed therapy a long time ago and didn't get it. I think she needed someone to guide her but she obviously never had that.
"It's so complex and lovely to play, as part of Abe does adore his mum but he's now extremely damaged because of Marie's actions. Marie is damaged too.
"So it's interesting to watch how the trauma passes down in any generational line – if that person at the top of the chain doesn't sort themselves out and get some therapy."
We've heard that Abe has a dark side, especially in his relationship with Cleo. Is Marie aware of it?
"Marie is completely oblivious. There is a storyline coming up where she realises that Abe is way darker than she ever thought he could be, but she forgives him in a second because he's got her wrapped around his little finger.
"Ultimately Marie just loves him so much that she just forgives whatever he does. Abe is a fascinating character."
One of your first episodes sees Marie clash with Mercedes. How was it to film those scenes with Jennifer Metcalfe?
"Well, it was like one of my stock behaviours as an actress! I seem to end up playing a character that has a fight with someone and gets a pint poured on them!
"But it was brilliant and Jen's amazing. It was nice to come in and show the tough cookie side to Marie immediately, but actually underneath that, there's way more to it. It's just bravado. Marie is just a damaged woman."
There's unfinished business between Marie and Warren, which quickly leads to more. Can you tell us about their relationship?
"I think Marie isn't interested in any relationship. She doesn't need one and she hasn't got the headspace for one. If I was her friend, I'd say that she needs to stay away from men for ten years at least! But I think her and Warren have a spark.
"The scenes that me and Jamie (Lomas, who plays Warren) have together are so easy with really great chemistry. I've worked with him before and I think you can see that it's a fun dynamic between those two.
"Currently Warren is going through some stuff, Marie is going through some stuff and it just works when they both need some time out from life. They're both lonely and they've got a history together. But ultimately Marie doesn't need any complications with men right now."
How much have Hollyoaks told you about future plans for Marie? Are there some big storylines on the way?
"I've been filming for about three months now and there isn't a storyline we haven't done yet! We've covered a lot but I know that there's more in the pipeline, just from my initial meetings when I first started.
"There's just so much to explore with Marie, including finding out why she behaves the way she does. I imagine there's going to be people from her past coming in – probably that's the only way she can explain why she is the way she is. So I'm pretty sure there'll be a lot more to explore with her."
What is it about Hollyoaks that appealed to you?
"In the last six years since I left EastEnders, I've done a few dramas and a few films. But I've done so much theatre, which was great but I love telly – and actually, my heart is in soap.
"I think people underestimate how much skill the people that film soaps possess because there's so much volume to get through. There are so many episodes to be explored per week, so you've got to be really on the ball because nothing's shot in chronological order.
"I like the challenge of that. I think with a continuing drama, you're always digging into something new every day because you're filming across so many blocks at once.
"So for me, as someone with ADHD – and not just that I've got ADHD, because I'm hyper anyway and I'm super creative – it's good for my brain to be constantly getting my teeth into something gritty every single day. It's the best job in the world, I would say."
We previously saw Marie for a couple of episodes in 2012, played by another actor. Have you watched any of those scenes?
"No I haven't, and it's the same as when I've been doing a musical or a play – I don't want to watch the previous performer in case I try to mimic them. I have to put my own stamp on it, otherwise it's not true.
"I can mimic really easily, so I have to go into it with a fresh slate of how I think Marie is. There's just a danger of me using someone else's ideas, which is not something that we want to do."
Hollyoaks is filmed in Liverpool. How have you found moving up north to take on the job?
"I've absolutely loved it. I've said a million times that I wish my kids were with me, but they're 18 and off to uni soon. They're finishing their A-Levels at the moment. They're the only piece of the puzzle that are missing.
"But I love being up north. Scousers are the best people in the world. Before this I was living just outside of London, 20 minutes from Kings Cross. It's busy down there, it's fast, it's aggro and everyone's in a mood 99% of the time because everyone's stressed and squashed up!
"It's a life change – everybody smiles at you up here and everybody's friendly. People have got time and I don't sit in traffic all day. We live by the beach and it's been absolutely amazing.
"I just wish the kids were here but they're not. I have to be patient because they're doing their A-Levels and they leave school in literally a matter of months to go to uni. It was nearly empty-nester time anyway."
You caused a frenzy last year by suggesting that Roxy may have been holding her breath when she died in EastEnders. Is a return to the show something you'd be interested in?
"Listen, we're just getting into Hollyoaks right now so I'm not going to say anything about that! But you can go back and you can read all the stories and you can make your own mind up on that! Only because it wouldn't be fair to Hollyoaks to talk about that."
Are you still in touch with people from the show?
"It's been the same ever since I left – you know those friends you don't talk to for years and then you catch up? It's like that.
"I talk to Sam (Womack, who played Ronnie Mitchell). We don't talk as much as we did, just because she's now in Spain. But me and Sam still talk a lot. We used to talk normally about eight times a day, so that's what I mean – we still speak but just not eight times a day!
"I still speak to Di Parish (Denise Fox) occasionally, Tameka Empson (Kim Fox), Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell), Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), Jamie Borthwick (Jay Brown).
"But everyone's busy and I'm busy too – I'm literally up at 5am most mornings, home at 7.30pm and zonked learning my lines for the next day."
What do you make of the recently-announced changes to Hollyoaks' schedule and the show focusing on streaming more?
"I think that it might seem turbulent and scary at the moment for a lot of people across the board in TV. But what I will say is that when you get down to the nitty gritty of it, what Hollyoaks are doing right now is very clever.
"It's really keeping in line with the viewing habits of people these days. Viewing habits are so different now and moving to a more digital platform is the way most people are going to be viewing in a few years' time.
"I don't think soaps will ever go anywhere because they're such an institution for us here in Britain. I think they're really innovative for moving with the times so quickly because a lot of programmes will be thinking the same things, it's just when do they do it?
"It is different times. We don't live in the era that we did even two years ago. It's completely changed and with social media, a lot of advertising has gone over there instead.
"So rather than saying 'Oh my God, it's broken' everybody needs to just say 'Okay, how do we reconfigure the way we put productions out and move in line with the new habits of telly?'
"Kids my kids age don't view how I view anymore, because that's the next generation. You have to move with them."
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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