Joy ALT’s Arts and Culture Editor and Entertainment Journalist speaks to Hollyoaks renowned actors Louis Emerick and Harvey Virdi about the evolving relationship between Donny Clark and Misbah Maalik. They discuss their recent engagement, family dynamics, upcoming storylines involving their children, and reflect on working in television and changes in the industry.
Louis Emerick is a British actor known for his roles in Brookside, Coronation Street and The Bill. He currently plays Donny Clark in Hollyoaks.
Harvey Virdi is a British actress and writer currently known for her role as Misbah Maalik in Hollyoaks. Her credits include This Is England, Doctors and extensive work in theatre and radio.
ALT: Harvey, Louis, thank you so much for talking to ALT A Review in advance here on the Hollyoaks set. So firstly, let’s talk about your characters. So where are Donny and Misbah in their relationship?
Louis: Well, we’re a few months down from getting engaged for the second time, aren’t we? They’re in a good place.
Harvey: They’re in a good place, after all the last 12 months of finding out all about Donny’s past and then everything he went through and dealing with that. I think they’re in a very, very comfortable, happy place. They’re being honest with each other and they’re having fun, aren’t they? I mean, the kids have been kids, but those two are solid.
ALT: Donny has recently rejoined the police force. Can you talk a bit on that, please?
Louis: I think when he went through all this trauma with Dodger, with all that that entailed, he walked away from the police force. I think it was the right thing to do at the time.
He resurrected his pizza business out of the old McDonald’s, I think, and that would sort of help him just get through life. But I think it was always something that he was trying to bury. Through Misbah’s help, it helped him kind of confront who he is, what he is, and in terms of helping to move forward.
I think he still had the policeman thing in his bones. When he got the opportunity to reapply, he jumped at it. He was a bit dubious, I missed that take here, but he was fine when it was over.
He was thinking that there would be a problem, but there wasn’t. I think he’s in his happy place now, trying to solve crime, but not knowing that his daughter is a big gangster. (laughs)
Harvey: You don’t know what’s going to happen, do you? We’re like, ah?
ALT: Can we talk a little bit on the upcoming storylines and how your characters fit into these as much as you can give away?
Harvey: Well, we don’t at the moment because we don’t really know what our kids are up to, do we really? No, we don’t know. No, we don’t.
Louis: We sort of start to find little things of like, OK, now we know Vicky does have an eating disorder, OK, right, that’s something that now we, all right. We kind of always knew Imran wasn’t quite Imran and what was that about? Couldn’t put your finger on it. But all right, you know, that’s coming out.
Harvey: And Gemma, there are little things. She kind of keeps reassuring him when he’s on a little sniff of something. She reassures him that, look, Dad, come on, I’ve learned my lesson, I wouldn’t do it. Because you have asked her quite a few times, what’s this, what’s that? I don’t get it, because your policeman knows.
It’s crypto wallets, it’s money. And she reassures him. Gemma reassures him that I’m not involved, I wouldn’t do that again, I’ve learned my lesson, all that.
And he’s like, OK, and he believes it. He believes it because he wants to, isn’t he. I’m not sure.
Misbah doesn’t really know, because you don’t really do it in front of me, do you? No, no, it’s usually when Misbah is not in the room she will do it. So I usually come in and they’ve had a bit of a chat, and I’m like, OK, what’s going on? So it’s all up in the air. It’s all kind of up in the air.
I think it’s something that we’re going to be heading towards with both Imran and Gemma, and I think there’s, and Vicky, there’s going to be down the line, it’s going to implode and impact at some point, but we’re not quite there yet.
ALT: Like it normally does. So with Donny and Vicky (Anya Lawrence), how is that relationship going? You’ve newly discovered each other?
Louis: Well, I think he’s trying his best. I mean, the thing is, he wasn’t aware that she existed, so there was no abandonment stuff like it was with Gemma, which even though it was for Gemma, he was thinking for her best interest.
He didn’t know Vicky was around. So now that he’s found out that she is in his life, he wants to be in her life. He wants to try and play a role in her life.
He wants to be there as much as he can. And it’s going to be difficult for her because, you know, eighteen years of nothing, suddenly this man walks into your life. So I would imagine it’s more tricky, hence the reason why she doesn’t open up about it, with the jabs and the eating disorder and all that.
He finds out via Misbah and Gemma really. So he’s trying, it’s work in progress, but he’s trying his best. Because those sort of things take time to build, don’t they?
So he’s trying, he is a good dad, and he’s trying to prove, and maybe sometimes he might try too hard, but I think you do in that situation, you know what I mean? But I think we’re kind of, well, she’s got her demons going on. So again, it’s a thing of she can’t open up to me, so we’ve got this little chess game going on. Yeah, that’s kind of where we’re at, aren’t we? The children, the young people, but they are our children, they’ve got their demons.
Misbah and Donny have worked through their demons that they had, and so now we’re in a more stable, trusting place.
ALT: And how do you think Misbah and Donny will handle, particularly Vicky’s eating disorder, that’s a massive thing.
Louis: Well, at least you’ve been there before, haven’t you? Is Donny strong enough? You’ve been there, at least Misbah’s been there before.
I think with Misbah she has two different experiences that can help her. I mean, for Donny, it comes out of the blue, and that in itself, she’s a medical person, and there are ways of dealing that she knows work better. But on top of that, her own son’s been through it, so it’s a double knowing what things could or could not work, and what different treatments are available.
But the one thing she does know is that you can’t go bounding in and going, have you got a disease? Because that isn’t going to work. But that’s kind of Donny’s initial approach.
I mean, I just asked her straight out, right, you know, are you anorexic? And Misbah’s trying to say, no, that’s wrong.
We’re just going to alienate her by being that confrontational. But, you know, he’s coming from a place of I can help you sort this out, in a dad way.
ALT: So, Misbah, relationship like with Donny’s daughters?
Louis: Well, I think her relationship with Vicky has always been lovely. She’s known her for a long time now. That’s quite solid. Her relationship with Gemma started off rocky, and just when we think that they’re all right, Gemma does or says something that makes Misbah go, whoa, hold on a minute. So it rocks the boat again.
So she’s not as sure with Gemma, but she really, really wants to believe in her, because she knows that it makes Donny really happy to have his girls there. So Misbah is not as convinced as he is about Gemma, because she keeps doing these really silly, weird things, like prescribing drugs that she shouldn’t be, and, you know, and I’m like, but what are you doing?
ALT: How do each of you relate to your characters?
Louis: I think for me, the father daughter is, I have two daughters myself, so I can relate from that point of view, and, you know, trying to navigate them.
So it gives me an in, if you like, and I like the fact that his very first episode, they wrote when Vicky was marching off, and Donny shouts after her, look, I’m still your dad, and I’m not going anywhere, and I like that, because so many times in soaps we’ve seen, particularly if you’ve been an absent Black dad, then suddenly it’s like you’re up to no good, you know, the stereotypical things, and it wasn’t like that.
He just didn’t know she existed, so he’s a good dad. And the way he bailed out on Gemma and Leo, it was with the best intentions, because he knew that they would be in danger, so there were mitigating circumstances there.
I hang my hat on that, and they’ve both got a great taste in music, and a bit of Al Green was going on there, a little bit of Marvin, that’s right up my street. And we’ve both got a great taste in women, and you don’t get any better than this.
Harvey: I think what I do like about Misbah, and I hope that I have this in me, is that she’s not stuck in her traditional ways. She is a woman of colour, she is a woman of faith, it’s important to her, but that doesn’t mean everybody else has to live by her rules.
Her rules are about being a good, thoughtful, kind person. After that, live your life. So her children, before she met Donny, she wanted them to live their life, to be with the people who made them happy.
If they were happy, then she was happy. It was not about you must do this or live like this. She is a very open woman, in terms of her career as well.
That is really important for Misbah, and I know that’s important for me. She’s not very judgemental.
ALT: Actors who have done a lot of work over the years in TV, film and theatre, what do you like about being on a soap?
Louis: There’s a lot to like. I think it’s the constant ability to be in your craft. Gone are the days when people were against soaps.
You think of the stories we’ve done, it’s great material. Even the lighter moments, just conversations and laughter, it’s lovely to come into work and do that.
It’s varied, depending on where they take the character. I’ve had no complaints so far, and I hope there’s plenty more.
Harvey: You come into work to work as an actor, and you’re doing it every day with amazing people, not just actors but crew, directors and writers. Everyone contributes.
Louis: It’s a family environment. There are no egos. That’s something that has carried through, and it still feels the same now.
Harvey: And you think, I’m doing the job I love. How lucky am I?
ALT: Do you have any fears in terms of how AI will change the industry?
Louis: Personally, no, I wouldn’t want my image used like that. I think it’s a slippery slope.
Harvey: I think it is a very real threat. It might develop quickly, and younger generations won’t know any different.
ALT: Would you encourage your children to go into the industry?
Louis: My daughter is interested in it at the moment. She’s into dance and drama, so we’ll see. She understands the reality.
Harvey: If they really want to do it, you support them, but they need to understand the ups and downs. You have to work hard and learn your craft.
ALT: And just quickly, what do you think is a dramatic change from the time you started out in the industry?
Harvey: The audition process. Self tapes have changed things. It’s easier to access, but it doesn’t always reflect the full craft.
Louis: Being in the room is still the best. Sometimes you don’t get the job, but you get another opportunity from that interaction.
Harvey: You don’t always know what they’re looking for with self tapes.
Louis: That’s the biggest change. But social media has also created more opportunities to share work.
Harvey: Once you’re on set, the process is still the same.
ALT: Louis, Harvey, thank you so much.
📺 Hollyoaks is available to stream from 7am, Monday to Wednesday, on @channel4, or watch live on @e4grams at 7pm.
