EastEnders star James Bye wasn’t sure he’d get through filming Martin d.e.a.t.h scene: “It was like a rollercoaster”
"Neither of us were able to speak without blubbering!"
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It’s barely been a week since Martin Fowler’s tragic EastEnders exit – and we’re definitely not over it.
James Bye said farewell to his character of 10 years in devastating fashion – declaring his love for Stacey (Lacey Turner) as the Queen Vic crumbled around him in the live 40th anniversary episode.
Both the residents of Walford, and fans, have been reeling ever since. But, if you think that scene was hard to watch, Bye confirms it was even harder to film.
“Whenever Lacey [Turner] and I were rehearsing, we got upset,” said Bye, in an exclusive chat with RadioTimes.com.
“Even on the episodes before the live, we couldn’t get through scenes – it was ridiculous!”
Bye even admitted that at one point, he and Turner were unsure if they would be able to perform the climatic moment.
“We said to each other ‘I don’t think we’re going to be able to actually say any words’ and there were a couple of run-throughs where neither of us were actually able to speak without blubbering.”
When it came down to it, however, Bye and Turner did more than rise to the occasion. “I don’t know, maybe it was the adrenaline being live, or the fact millions of people were watching and we wanted them to actually understand what we were saying!” he laughed, “But we just had to go for it. It was like being on a rollercoaster, and we just had to pull the bar down and say ‘right see you at the end’.”
On a One Show appearance earlier this week, Bye admitted that he had been the one to tell Lacey Turner he was leaving, saying: “I told the executive producer [Chris Clenshaw] – after we’d sort of made the decision – you have to let me tell Lacey. Everyone else, you can tell, but I have to tell her.”
He now added: “I just felt like it was about respect. She’s my best mate, my colleague and my on screen ex-wife, so it was the right thing to do.”
He went on to say that leaving the entire cast and crew “was tough” but there was an “energy” on set.
“It was very positive,” he said, “Don’t get me wrong, people were sad, but everyone was could see why I was doing what I was doing, and they knew what I had coming up.”
Bye is, of course, referring to the recent announcement that he would be playing Mr Darcy in the upcoming stage tour of D.e.a.t.h Comes to Pemberley, which sets off this May.
The actor admitted to being “so excited” about the new role, with rehearsals kicking off next month.
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