EastEnders star Diane Parish has described playing Denise Fox's acute myeloid leukaemia story as 'gruelling', revealing that being confined to hospital and house sets has left her isolated from her fellow cast members.
Since Denise's diagnosis, viewers have seen her spend most of her time in a hospital ward or at home, unable to visit the Queen Vic, the café, Fox & Hair, or anywhere else on Albert Square. Parish, who has played Denise for 20 years, told Metro on Albert Square that the experience has taken a toll.
'It has been gruelling'
'It has been gruelling,' Parish admitted. 'It is tough, as with the illness, because we're in continuing drama, so we play it in real time. If I was doing a film, if I was doing a TV drama, it would have been over a long time ago. I would have shot it maybe in 6 to 8 weeks. That would be the end of it.'
'It's rewarding in some ways, and in other ways it can be quite devastating to play some of those moments because I love Denise. You don't play someone for 20 years and then not love them. I love her, and it breaks my heart sometimes being out on the Square. I was saying to someone when we just turned up, 'I don't know the last time I've been out here'.'
Isolation from the Square
The only people Denise sees these days are her partner Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and her sister Kim Fox (Tameka Empson). Gone are the days of her clashes with Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), or Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace). Even when she left hospital and returned home, she could not leave the house.
Parish explained how being restricted to a handful of sets has affected her: 'Denise is in a hospital bed, she's quarantined when she's at home, she's quarantined in her house, so I'm in the studio. I don't get to go to the Vic, I don't get to go to the cafe and have a coffee. I don't see everybody, I never thought I'd say that I'd miss those long days standing out on the Square, but I really, really, really do.'
Story praised by Blood Cancer UK
The storyline has attracted praise from Blood Cancer UK and offered comfort to cancer survivors. Parish stressed the importance of telling the story properly: 'We're months in, so we can't skip ahead and go 'right, she's all better'. We have to do it justice, not just for the show, for the people who are actually suffering'.
'They want to feel seen, and I'm determined to make sure that they feel seen in the most genuine, honest way that we can. And be as unflinching with it with the details as we can. We are a 7:30 show, And you can't visit every aspect of this condition. But we try as much as we can to tell the story, otherwise we would never have taken it on.'
