Casualty star Elinor Lawless has confirmed that her character Dr Stevie Nash is more concerned about losing her friendship with Dylan Keogh than the impact on her career, as the fallout from her fling with trainee doctor Matty Linlaker continues.
Stevie's Priority: Friendship Over Career
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk and other media, Lawless said Stevie is "100% more upset over losing Dylan." She explained: "I think Stevie doesn't have many people who she can really turn to. Dylan and Stevie, they're different notes, but they're in the same key and she hates the idea of [being without him]."
Stevie's affair with Matty Linlaker (Aron Julius) was exposed by Dylan (William Beck), who is also Matty's long-lost father. Dylan was furious after learning his son covered for a serious clinical error Stevie made. Although she put her career in jeopardy, her main concern remains her relationship with Dylan, who was one of her closest friends before the revelation.
Guided Practice and Fallout
Stevie was told the matter would be dealt with informally through a period of "guided practice." However, Dylan has actively cut her out of his life since discovering the truth. Lawless admitted she was surprised when she learned the plans for the character: "That was the hard thing, even I've been given the story [and you think] s**t. The challenge is to find a way to play that curve ball."
She reflected on the depth of the loss: "There's kind of something building, like a genuine respect, and a genuine kind of back and forth with her and Dylan. I think losing that [is incredibly hard]. I think losing that would be for her way more detrimental than losing her job."
Hope for Reconciliation
While Lawless could not reveal what lies ahead for the pair, she speculated they might make it through the crisis: "The thing about both of those characters is that they're at home and comfortable with the fact that as people they messed up and complex, so I think there's still hope."
She added: "They've built that connection and then this story, it was a real kind of left field, but I hope that we've played it authentically and truthfully, and with humanity. As audiences we need to watch people in stories mess up and do better. I think those are the stories that we want to see. We want to know that we're all forgivable, even at our worst."
