EastEnders actor Bleu Landau has launched a clothing brand called Playa Cala, six years after his character Dennis Mitchell was killed off the BBC soap. The 21-year-old, who played Sharon Watts' son, said he had felt like he had "lost [his] purpose" after his role ended.
Character's death and its aftermath
Dennis drowned in February 2020 after a celebration on the River Thames turned to disaster. Ian Beale locked him on the lower deck of a boat after discovering Dennis was responsible for putting Ian's son in hospital. The boat crashed, and despite Ian's attempts to save him, Dennis suffered cardiac arrest and died.
The scenes aired a month before the UK entered its first national Covid-19 lockdown on March 23 2020. Landau said the timing made it very hard to find acting work afterwards at just 15 years old.
New business venture
In a series of Instagram slides, Landau wrote about his struggles after leaving the show. He said: "For a while, I felt like I'd lost my purpose. Growing up, I was lucky enough to live a dream! From a young age, acting was a huge part of my life. Being on EastEnders gave me experiences, opportunities and memories I'll forever be grateful for. But eventually, that chapter came to an end."
He added: "After leaving EastEnders, Covid hit. Productions stopped, opportunities became limited, and an already competitive industry became even harder to navigate. For the first time, I wasn't really sure what was next."
Landau said he still has an agent and is pursuing acting opportunities, but decided to create his own opportunities after coming up with an idea. He said he had to "learn from scratch" and struggled with self-doubt.
Support from fellow actors
He revealed the launch of Playa Cala after "months of work behind the scenes". The former soap star said: "I'm still chasing my dreams in acting. But separately, I've found a passion that's given me a renewed sense of purpose."
Hollyoaks star Owen Warner commented "Looks cleannn" on the announcement, while another friend wrote "Proud my brother." Landau joined EastEnders in 2015, taking over from Harry Hickles, and was nominated for Best Young Performance at the British Soap Awards in 2017.
