EastEnders’ Danny Walters says out of character Keanu moment was the plan all along
Sorry, Sharon.
Danny Walters, who played Keanu in EastEnders until his big dramatic exit in the 'Sixmas' storyline, has admitted that one particularly out-of-character moment was in fact planned all along.
Speaking at the RadioTimes.com Soap Awards, sponsored by Inspired Villages, Walters lifted the lid on one scene that really shocked the fans: the moment where, in a fit of rage, Keanu strangled Sharon. This, of course, led directly to Keanu's Christmas death.
Walters, who picked up the award for Best Exit as EastEnders gathered up an impressive number of gongs, reflected on this moment in the video interview you can watch above.
Walters told RadioTimes.com: "Yeah, I think that's the way we pitched it, when me, myself and the director Lance [Kneeshaw], and Letitia Dean, and the writers, when we sat down, we had to work out... the only thing that Keanu ever wanted was to be a dad, and to have a son, Albie, and as soon as that was taken away from him, his whole purpose and his character completely changed within a split second.
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"So I think it was a side of Keanu we saw, it was quite a vulnerable side, that was scared, that was feared of losing his child. Angry. It was such a whirlwind of emotions that was going on with Keanu's character at that time on that stairwell in the Vic, that he just lost character.
"And in that split second when a character loses character, that's when the character is at his lowest point. And then, that's obviously what happened with Keanu's demise after that, so it was very out of character, but I think it was needed for that story to work."
Of course, the Sixmas storyline was the pinnacle of EastEnders storytelling last year, with the the flash-forward finally paying off. Keanu ended up at the heart of it, with loads of twists and turns for his character. A well deserved Best Exit award for Walters!
Stay tuned for more exclusive intel from the RadioTimes.com Soap Awards in the days ahead.
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- Emmerdale’s Lucy Pargeter on how cancer changed Chas and her take on Belle and Tom’s storyline
The RadioTimes.com Soap Awards 2024, sponsored by Inspired Villages, took place on 13th July. Find out more about the nominees!
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