EastEnders star Max Bowden has revealed more details about Ben Mitchell's harrowing attack at the hands of barman Lewis which is set to play out on screen next week.
It was announced earlier this month that Ben would be the victim of rape in an upcoming EastEnders storyline, with his trauma coming just as Ben has hit rock bottom, still struggling to come to terms with the homophobic attack on his husband, Callum, in January.
Since the attack, Ben has been getting revenge by attacking homophobic men in the street, leaving one man badly beaten in hospital, and even attacking his own nephew Peter Beale in a case of mistaken identity.
What to Watch caught up with Max to hear more about Ben's upcoming ordeal, and he has revealed there is a nod to a past storyline featuring Ben's mum, Kathy Beale.
Fans might remember that back in the 1980s Kathy was herself a victim of rape at the hands of nasty Willmott Brown. And Max has pointed out that Ben's attack happens in the very same location where his mum was also raped...
"It was a deliberate move from the writers," shares Max. "What’s really great about what's happening with the show at the moment is there's a lot of referencing and a lot of links back to history, which the fans love.
"They love to be reminded of stuff that's happened before. And also for that to then correlate within the story is genius, it keeps the show at its roots and about family, heritage and all of the things that make EastEnders what it is.
"Gillian and I have the most amazing relationship and we're really close so there was a lot of cross-referencing between us as to her experience of when she filmed it and my experience going through it. There’s always a conversation to be had with Gillian Taylforth!"
Max has also revealed that he purposely kept his distance from actor Aidan O'Callaghan, who plays Lewis, on set before filming the rape scenes... "I was probably a bit of an arse really but didn't tell Aidan until we'd finished that stuff, that I deliberately kept my distance from him for about six weeks, just because I didn't want to find myself in a position where we become close.
"I felt I thought it would make everything that happens after that really difficult. So I said to him after we'd finished the scene 'I just want you to know that I am not an arse!'. After that, we had a good chat and got on really well. I did feel quite bad for doing it, but I think it helped."
Ben's trauma following his attack is set to change everything for the character, and Max has confirmed that Ben will try to hide what happened to him...
"The initial impact of trauma is that element of shock, confusion, fear and loneliness. Ben can be quite an insular person, he is very good at putting on a mask. But we do start to see the mask falling and it becomes more apparent that something's not right.
"With Kathy, there's obviously that commonality and the fact that she was raped by Wilmott Brown. Also, there's a brotherhood with Jay who can see through the mask, and the people who know him best start to see something's not quite right. There are patterns in his behaviour. Not grooming himself anymore, he starts to look quite dishevelled. And people start to unravel the pieces of the puzzle.
"But for somebody who's as male bravado-driven as Ben Mitchell, it's really tough. So he becomes a complete shell of himself and utterly confused and lost. It's like shellshock. It’s fight or flight for what comes next."
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
