Crystal Yu talks about her final Casualty scenes
Lily’s left Casualty. Sob! We’re not quite ready to say goodbye so we insisted Crystal Yu, who plays lovelorn Lily Chao, chats to us about filming her final, moving Casualty scenes.
Here Crystal reveals what she really thinks about Iain and Sam’s suspect friendship and what Lily may have got up to once she was out of sight of Holby ED…
At the moment, we can’t help holding Iain and Sam responsible for Lily’s decision to leave…
"The fact is Iain’s been reluctant to talk to Lily about their relationship recently. She was standing in front of Iain asking him to talk to her and he didn’t want to. Walking away from Iain is probably one of the hardest things Lily’s had to do but she needed to because she needed to rescue herself from this version of herself she’s become."
How would you describe this version of Lily?
"This jealous woman who’s slightly lost control! Lily doesn’t like or enjoy seeing herself like this. Whatever is going on between Sam and Iain has to find its own resolution. The research post has come up at a very good time. It may be Lily’s saving grace!"
What do you think would have happened if there’s been no research post to escape to?
"Had there been nothing for Lily to go to she would have stayed in Holby. And maybe, because of the way Lily has been behaving and the way that Iain (Michael Stevenson) has been behaving, they would have ended up breaking up anyway. Maybe Lily would have ended up seeing Sam (Charlotte Salt) and Iain getting back together – and that would really hurt her..."
Leaving is very empowering and grown up of her...
"Yes, instead of staying and witnessing a man she’s in love with and a relationship she wants to invest in [ending], Lily knows to walk away. Not because she doesn’t love Iain but because it’s not healthy for her right now. It doesn’t mean it’s forever or they won’t cross paths in the future. But right now Iain needs to sort out whatever he has going on with Sam – and Lily needs to give him the space to do it."
Let’s talk about your final scenes. Did you enjoy Iain serenading Lily with karaoke?
"That was a really hard scene because I needed to stay with the heaviness in my heart to play it. But it’s always fun to see Michael make a complete fool of himself! I’ve done enough karaoke scenes as Lily to know my musical theatre career is over – now it’s Michael’s turn to end his musical career!"
What was going on for Lily when she finally said goodbye to Iain?
"When Lily said right at the end ‘I’m Lily Chao’ that was her putting on her Lily Chao armour. She wasn’t going to cry in front of Iain. Her heart was breaking so she needed to remind herself who she is. She wanted to walk out of Holby with her head held high… but once she turned the corner her heart was going to shatter into pieces. I think she cried her heart out, went home and ate ice cream!"
Lily’s not been killed off – do you think she could return in the future? "Her heart may be broken but she’s alive!"
