Charlotte Riley has made her debut as Leah Barnes in Hollyoaks, exclusively revealing to the Daily Star the drama her character faces on her return to the village alongside Imran Maalik.
New Era for Leah
Charlotte Riley has joined Hollyoaks as Leah Barnes, setting the stage for a dramatic series of events. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Charlotte, known for her role in Coronation Street, would be taking on the iconic character, who is the daughter of Ste Hay, played by Kieron Richardson.
Longtime viewers will recall that Leah, originally portrayed by Ela-May Demircan, left the village to pursue her studies in the United States, leaving behind her newborn son James. Recently on the Channel 4 soap, Imran Maalik, played by Ijaz Rana, proposed to Leah, following their surprise return to Chester as a couple after they happened to cross paths while traveling.
Charlotte's Insight
Discussing her new role, Charlotte offered some insight: "It's just one of those things where life changes, people change and grow and that's just what's happened with Leah, really."
"She's gone into this new era of life and it's a fresh start coming back with Imran. She's still the same Leah underneath but as you come in obviously you've got this front up and you want to show off how well you've worked and she's got all these ideas in her mind and she wants to do this project and work with people and it's like coming back to old friendships."
Past Secrets
Prior to her departure from the village, Leah had an affair with her brother Lucas Hay's boyfriend Dillon Ray, resulting in her pregnancy and giving birth to baby James, leaving Lucas deeply heartbroken when the truth came to light.
Discussing Leah and Lucas' relationship now that she's returned to the village, Charlotte said: "I'm yet to film with Oscar [Curtis] but I'm sure that the brother and sister relationship is definitely going to still be there."
"I know obviously things happened with Dillon [Hay] but as we've already seen in the show, she has forgiven and forgotten and it's family and you're never going to lose your family over things like that and you always get through the hard times together."
Truth Always Comes Out
The actress went on to say: "Leah's not forgotten about James. He's gone travelling with his dad so she's kind of put it to the back of her head at the moment and she's kind of just focusing on everyone else's relationships as a bit of a distraction from what's really going on."
"Leah's come back to a village where she left where she gave birth and coming back to that place is going to be all these little reminders when she goes around the village and she just has to put up this front really and that's what she's doing at the minute."
"We've obviously got the big wedding and people are a bit confused to why she's got money and are second guessing things she might be doing and saying and no matter what, the truth always comes out in the end, so it'll all come out."
Hollyoaks airs Monday to Wednesday on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed on Channel 4 from 7am.
