EastEnders star Diane Parish explains Denise and Ravi affair story
EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders fans will see Denise Fox risk everything in next week's scenes, when she agrees to spend the night with Ravi at a hotel.
Denise has found herself struggling to resist Ravi in recent weeks, amid mounting problems in her marriage to Jack Branning.
Here, Diane Parish – who plays Denise – explains her character's conflicted feelings, and what happens next in the story.
We know the last couple of months haven't been easy for Denise. Can you tell us how she's feeling at this point?
"Denise is feeling pretty overlooked in general, and in particular feeling like her husband doesn't see her. And what he does see in her is someone who serves a function in their household. He sees her as a cook, a washer-upper, someone to deal with the kids, pick up the kids. She's constantly having to remind him to inject a little bit of romance to keep their relationship and their communication alive, but at the minute she's just feeling a little bit neglected, overlooked and invisible."
Next week, a drunken Denise propositions Ravi having been inspired by Keanu and Sharon but is rejected. How does she feel in that moment?
"I don't think Denise really has any serious intentions of doing anything with him at that moment. I think she more sees it as a challenge, but Ravi telling Denise that she's drunk is insulting, and that burns her ego."
Why does Denise seek to validate her feelings with Sharon?
"Denise is looking to inadvertently greenlight some of the thoughts she is having that she initially thinks might be bad. I don’t think Denise is on a quest to look for validation for her to be able to do the dirty on Jack. That really isn't is how it's happening for her, it's sort of a crisis, a life crisis, a love crisis where Denise has ended up in a situation where she thinks 'well, what's going on with me', I think she thinks if only she was getting the same attention from her husband that she's getting from Ravi. That's really, if anything, what Denise would want."
Can you explain Denise's initial reaction when Ravi asks her to join him at a hotel?
"Her reaction is, 'What is this guy even thinking', but at the same time, there's a part of her that thinks, 'Wow, some excitement'. It's something different. It's cheeky and the clandestine nature of it has got her blood pumping, and it enables her to have something of her own which isn't about Amy, Ricky, Chelsea or Jordan or Jack – and everything that's been whirring around her. This is something that belongs to her and is all encapsulated in that hotel key card. It's a hidden excitement because it's their little secret."
Without revealing too much, is everything smooth-sailing as Denise gets ready to join Ravi?
"No, it isn't. But the one thing I will say, and I hope this comes across in the whole story is that Denise doesn't want to go. Really, she wants Jack to save her from all of this. Denise would give anything for Jack to turn round and say all of the things that Ravi has said and give her all of the excitement and validation that Ravi has given her. She would give anything for that to come from Jack. She doesn't want to go and she would give anything not to go."
Do you think Denise will be able to go through with it?
"When you play these parts in this show no-one can ever say. 'I wouldn't do that or. 'she wouldn't be here', because the nature of the beast is that anything can happen. Anything can happen, and it forces stories to spin out which effect different characters. It's all about drama and excitement, and characters being put in very uncomfortable situations."
What has it been like to work with Aaron [Thiara] on this storyline?
"He's an absolute delight and a revelation. We spent a lot of time in 2020 working with a lot of people we hadn't worked with previously. We were all in bubbles and so we weren't able to work properly together, and we also weren't able to get to know everyone.
"So it's been a revelation to learn what a lovely, kind, human being and absolute professional that Aaron is. He is very intriguing as an actor and he is always searching for a way to play something that isn't necessarily on the page. He's always looking for what isn't there, and what the underlying subtext is.
"He doesn't complicate it but by the end of shooting a scene, the script isn't black and white because he colours it in if that makes sense. He is a very clever, intuitive actor and he's really fleshed out Ravi to be more of an archetypal villain as he has humanised him. He's had to do that in order for him to have had any chance or hope that Denise would turn her head from Jack. Aaron is very generous in bringing all of that to the table, he's just a fantastic actor."
Who do you think Denise's heart really belongs to? Jack or Ravi?
"100% it's Jack. That's not what the Ravi thing is about. The Ravi thing is about igniting sexual desires, tension, validation, and Denise not wanting to be middle-aged and forgotten and invisible. She wants to get old with her husband but she still wants to be seen. I think that's true for a lot of women – when you're in a relationship at this age you want to be seen, you're not dead! It's a bit of a crisis point for her."
Do you think Denise holds any anger towards Jack?
"I think there will definitely be some anger. I think it can be wrongly perceived that Denise wants Jack to put her before their children, but she doesn't want that. She just wants him to just share it with her, and for him to take care of her in the mix of family life as well. There's also a little bit of insecurity as well but there are so many players and layers in this storyline, and so many things that inform it.
"The show is all about the interplay and the sliding doors between characters to show how we are all interconnected in some way. At the moment, I think the show is really alive, and there's something on the plate every single night. All of the storylines are going to converge together in some way and come together as everyone's lives are somewhat intertwined.
"We're constantly getting scripts that are real page-turners, and I'm working alongside some great actors. Ellie Dadd is a lovely little actress, she's got a real empathy and sweetness about her performance. I'm loving working with Frankie as well. And our little family unit is lovely. Working with Scott, who I've known for over 20 years, is just great. I just love working with him, he makes the day."
Finally, what has the fan reaction to the story been like so far?
"I've had a mixture of people who have said, 'I hope you're not going to go off with that bloke' but on the flip side, people have also said, 'Ooh, what's going on with you and Ravi?' I suppose it will be split down the middle with the fans.
"Also, at the minute Jack isn't being nice so a lot of the fans are thinking he's being horrible, but when they see what Scott Maslen brings to the table they may not be feeling sorry for me! Scott is incredible, he's a fantastic, emotional, vulnerable player and he's a fierce and loyal partner. He's got very strong ethics and opinions and he's informed Jack with a lot of that integrity and humanity."
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.
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