Vinny buries his dad… alone
HE’S THE ONLY ONE PAYING HIS LAST RESPECTS TO PAUL…
Loyal son Vinny prepares to lay his late dad Paul to rest this week – as the only mourner at the funeral. Paul died in an explosion on his wedding day, after which the truth about his horrid abuse of son Vinny finally came to light. However, despite all the hurt his dad has caused, Vinny is still determined to give him a proper send-off…
“Vinny hates his dad for what he’s done to him, but he didn’t want him to die,” explains Bradley Johnson, who plays the grieving son. “It was a very extreme way for Paul to go, and in Vinny’s head he thinks that if he’d said something earlier, if he’d tried to get his dad more help, then it wouldn’t have resulted in his death. Vinny has all of that resting on his shoulders – he blames himself for what’s happened.”
But while Paul’s death has hit Vinny hard, it’s fair to say that most other people in the village are happy to see the gambling addict six-feet under! Although Mandy loved Paul deeply, she’s unable to forgive him for what he did to her beloved son – so when the hearse arrives at the Dingle homestead, she has a few choice words to say to her former fiancé…
Instructing Lydia to keep Vinny indoors for a while, Mandy unleashes all of her fury at Paul’s coffin, before declaring that he doesn’t even deserve a funeral! However, when Vinny catches the tail end of his mum’s furious tirade, he’s extremely upset.
“Vinny’s a broken man – he’s in denial,” Bradley tells us. “He doesn’t want to listen to what his mum or anyone else has to say, he just wants to grieve for his dad in his own way. He wants to forget all the terrible things that his dad has done and see him in some sort of good light, because at the end of the day, his dad was blood.”
Sadly, Vinny is the only one who wants to honour his dad’s memory, so he cuts a lonely figure as he walks through the village behind the hearse. And when he arrives at the church for Paul’s funeral, Vinny is completely on his own.
“This was actually really sad to film, although it’s brilliantly written,” reveals Bradley. “It’s really upsetting for Vinny as it’s just such a sad turnout. Vinny’s totally emotionally broken by this point, and it will take a long time to heal the wounds that Paul left behind.”
Vinny wants to do his dad proud, yet as he stands up to read the eulogy, it all gets too much – and he flees from the church. So will Paul end up going to his final resting place without a single loved one there to bid him farewell?