Stacey runs into her old pal Ruby
AFTER 12 YEARS AWAY, LOUISA LYTTON IS BACK IN WALFORD AS RUBY ALLEN. BUT HAS THE GANGSTER’S DAUGHTER CHANGED?
When Ruby Allen left Walford in the back of a taxi, shattered over her father’s death and seething after rows with best mate Stacey and lover Sean, it seemed there was nothing left for her in Albert Square. Since then, the residents have barely spared the spoilt gangster’s daughter a second thought, so it comes as quite a surprise this week when Ruby returns to her old stomping ground. But not as much of a surprise as it was for actress Louisa Lytton…
“I haven’t been in the show for 12 years, so it was a bit of a shock!” admits the 29-year-old actress. “I got a phone call from John Yorke [Eastenders’ executive consultant] asking if I would like to come back, which was a great call to get – and obviously I said yes!”
The phone also heralds Ruby’s return on screen this week, as Stacey receives a mysterious text from an unknown number, asking to meet. Her interest piqued, Stacey goes to E20 as instructed, and is shocked to see her old pal is there to meet her.
“Ruby reaches out just to see her friend as she’s passing the area, but I think actually deep down she’s quite lonely,” suggests Louisa. “I think it’s a thing of going back to what she knows and recreating that connection with her old friend.”
And it hasn’t taken long for Louisa to re-establish all of her old relationships at the Eastenders studios either.
“It was really surreal, because I felt like I came into work and time had not passed,” she grins. “I saw the same people on the reception desk and at the security gate and all the cast and the costume and make-up teams. So many of the same faces, that it almost made me feel like I hadn’t left!
“It’s so funny – when Lacey [Turner, who plays Stacey] and I met again, it was like we just saw each other yesterday,” continues the actress. “Hopefully that shows on screen too. We get on so well and it’s so easy for us to work together because of that. So it was nice to just come to work and feel really comfortable with someone and catch up on and off screen.”
However, will it be such plain sailing for the pair as their reunion progresses? After their initial meeting, Ruby is keen for them to have a night out together, and Stacey is excited at the prospect of a fun evening with her friend – and is even more delighted when Martin treats her to a new dress. Done up to the nines, the girls head out on the town, but when Ruby catches the eye of a gang of lads, she does something that surprises Stacey! Which raises the question of how much Ruby has changed…
“Well, she’s older and more confident,” shares Louisa, who after leaving Eastenders played PC Beth Green in The Bill for two years, as well as taking part in 2006’s series of Strictly Come Dancing and landing a film role in an American Pie sequel. “It’s nice to see her in a different light. It’s been really surreal to step back into her shoes, because it was the first big job I ever had. Hopefully the viewers will warm to her like they did before.”
I think that deep down Ruby is really quite lonely