EastEnders' Danny Walters reveals Keanu's anger as Lisa uses Peggy as collateral
"He's very angry with Lisa."
Danny Walters says that his EastEnders alter ego, Keanu Taylor, will be furious when he learns of Lisa Fowler's (Lucy Benjamin) true motives.
Lisa has returned to Walford with Keanu's young daughter Peggy, who he fathered with Lisa and Phil Mitchell's (Steve McFadden) daughter Louise (Tilly Keeper). Keanu cheated on Louise with his current fiancé Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean), so Lisa played on his guilt to extort money out of Keanu in exchange for access to Peggy.
But next week, Lisa's gambling problem will be exposed, and speaking to RadioTimes.com and other media, Walters reveals how Keanu feels after learning the truth.
"It was quite interesting, because there [were] two ways of playing it. Even though Keanu is emotional-- he's very emotional and he wears his heart on his sleeve, but I think he is also a guy of principle, and he has a very good moral compass.
"And I think the fact that someone had done that to him, to use that against his daughter, for an ulterior motive, I think that's very... that goes against Keanu, his moral compass, I think so," admits the actor. "He's really upset, and he's very angry with Lisa, the fact that she used Peggy as collateral damage for her own issues, really."
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"Lisa [has been] blackmailing Keanu, and so she's using Peggy as collateral really and to get into Keanu's emotional...Keanu, being led by emotions, [was] really in a bit of a predicament whether he [paid] to see his daughter again."
We'll have to wait and see how the fallout of Lisa's actions plays out on-screen. And while we could be forgiven for thinking that, where Lisa is concerned, Keanu may actually be united with Phil for once, Walters knows that Keanu has surely burned all his bridges with Mr Mitchell.
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"Phil and Keanu's relationship is very much, it's always on a knife edge," he points out. "There's always, it's a very delicate relationship between the two characters where we know how dangerous Phil is, we know how emotional Keanu can get sometimes. So their relationship is never going to be, it's never going to be an amicable one. But it's a lot of subtext. There's a lot of things that are happening with the characters."
Having said that, the actor notes that Keanu's stance has changed since his return. "But it's been different this time around working with [Steve], because my character has changed over the years, and came back to the Square. And I think the way I now play Keanu is, Sharon is his partner, and they have a child together."
Whatever the dynamic between Phil and Keanu, Walters always loves working with co-star McFadden. "I've always admired Steve's work. I think he's incredible. I personally-- I adore Steve, I love working with Steve. I'd love the characters to be like a father/son relationship."
Naturally, though, the star isn't holding out much hope there! He added: "I really would love that but I don't think that's ever gonna happen. I think Keanu's made some foolish decisions over the years!"
Read more:
- EastEnders is nowhere near the axe – it's having a renaissance
- EastEnders 2023 summer preview: 5 spoilers from Chris Clenshaw
- 5 EastEnders spoilers next week: Lisa Fowler returns – but what’s she hiding?
- EastEnders’ Lucy Benjamin reveals young co-star recreated iconic Peggy Mitchell line
- EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal wants Ash return if Suki and Eve go public
- EastEnders summer return for Angela Wynter as Yolande Trueman
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