Myseacaptainfather wasthrownoverboard by pirates... having no grave to visit is hard
Kristian said: “My mother took it off me almost immediately because she said I was too young to have a toy gun.
“But I still have it, I keep it in my living room. It reminds me of the time we spent together.”
Kristian has taken a special interest in the plight of the desperate migrants who cross the Mediterranean to escape their wartorn homelands.
He supports the charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station, who fund a ship equipped with drones to spot the tiny, overcrowded migrant boats.
Kristian was moved to support them work when he saw pictures of the recovered possessions of those who died at sea.
He says: “There were clothes and wallets full of pictures. It took me back to that awful day looking through my father’s possessions.
“Every one of those was a person who ended up at the bottom of the Mediterranean in the graveyard of Europe.
“Some left behind families like ours who would never find the bodies or have a grave to visit.”
Kristian’s voice trembles as he apologises for getting so emotional about a refugee story which echoes his own family history.
Both his parents were born into poverty in eastern Europe, before escaping to the west.
His mother Ilze grew up in Latvia when it was part of the USSR.
She defied her teachers to stage a public protest when US president John F Kennedy was shot in 1963.
Later, she became a journalist and was left infuriated by the regime’s restrictions on her freedom of speech.
Kristian said: “My mother had to queue for hours in the cold for food. She had to work so hard to sustain her family when she was young – exhausting, manual labour that has left her suffering from arthritis. It’s so sad to see.”
Ilze met Kristian’s father in a cafe after his ship docked in Riga and the pair quickly fell in love. By the time Uwe managed to get her to Denmark, she was pregnant with Kristian. He said: “I’m so glad I wasn’t born on that side of the Iron Curtain.
“I don’t think the life I’ve led would have been possible if they hadn’t taken those risks and escaped to build a better life.
“I certainly don’t think I would have been able to have the career I do now. I owe my parents a lot.”
Not that Kristian’s route to Albert Square was straightforward.
His dream of studying acting in London died with his father as the shipping company sent lawyers to pressure his mother into accepting far less compensation than they should have had.
Instead, he learned his trade in Austria and worked across Europe before saving enough money to move to London a decade ago.
Even then, roles were in short supply and he had to take any work he could get.
Shortly after arriving, he lost his job and could not afford to pay rent on his flat share. He was forced to sleep rough for a few days until a room become available in a friend’s flat.
“That was scary,” said Kristian. “Eventually it was the kindness of strangers that helped me get back on my feet. People have to help each other.
“It was a long time before I got my first roles in this country, but it was all worthwhile. I hope my father would be proud.”
After 15 months as an EastEnder, he has left the role of Latvian immigrant Aleks behind, but says the door has been left open for a return.
He found that his role got him recognised in the street a lot – with many of those approaching him immigrants themselves.
He said: “I had so many occasions where people mentioned Aleks’s daughter having problems being a foreigner at school. They said they had the same problems with their own children being bullied in school.” ● Kristian is backing the vital work of MOAS rescuing migrants in peril at sea. Their work relies on donations to save lives. For more information and to donate, visit www.moas.eu.
would not have been possible without my parents escaping to the west