“Rainie would vote for herself !”
This time last year, Rainie and Max’s secret marriage had just been revealed and, along with baby Abi, the unlikely couple were busy playing happy families. Fast forward 12 months, and – of course! – Max has already left his poor wife high and dry, not to mention desperate. But as Rainie struggles to get back on her feet, Tanya Franks, who plays her, is feeling rather proud of her Best
Bad Girl nomination…
Are you pleased Rainie has had a nod of her own this year, after Max and Rainie were nominated for Best Partnership last year?
Yes, it’s lovely – very nice! I love playing Rainie, so if viewers get as much pleasure out of watching her as I love playing her, then that’s a match made in heaven. So thank you!
Is she that bad, though? She’s had a terrible time this year…
In some people’s eyes she’s bad. But to others she’s a bit misguided and misunderstood. She’s not all bad, she just sometimes chooses the bad route. That’s one of the qualities I love about her – that she’s not straightforward.
Who do you think Rainie would give the ‘Best Bad’ award to? We’re thinking Max…
She’d give it to herself! She’d be like, “How much badder do you want me to be? Because I’ll prove it!” She’d lap it up!
We’d have loved a spin-off about Rainie living the high life with Jack’s cash, we must admit…
Oh, yeah – Rainie would absolutely love to have lived that for a little bit longer! But, come on, it was never going to be, was it? Such is the nature of Rainie’s life. Everything always goes belly up for her.
Do you think that’ll ever change? She could surely do with a break!
She always takes things personally, and she’s so spontaneous that it only
takes one little thing to make her unhappy. The extremity to which she takes upset is something that’s ingrained in her. She has a lot of demons and she’s always fighting.
Would it help if her mother Cora or sister Tanya came back?
No – it wouldn’t help Rainie. But for me it would be great, because Ann Mitchell [Cora] and Jo Joyner [Tanya] are such great actresses to work with!
Is the audience rooting for Rainie, though, do you think?
I think they are, for different reasons. Some people like to see her go off the rails, and some people like to see her cleaning up. She has two types of audience, really. When anybody speaks to me while I’m out and about, they’ve always been very nice, which is lovely. It makes it all worthwhile!
What’s she set to make of Max and Ruby being together?
Any woman stepping into the place where she didn’t succeed is going to annoy Rainie. But she also reckons that it’s laughable he’s with such a young woman, and thinks he’s going to get away with it somehow!
Could you handle being Rainie’s friend – and cheer her up a bit?
Putting my head into Rainie’s world would be a real challenge, as she’s so far removed from me. And I’d need to have a lot of patience to be her friend…
It’s more than a decade since we first met Rainie – what is it about
Eastenders that keeps you there?
Rainie is a precious character to me, and I love the people I work with. I go to work every day and have fun with a great team. So really, what’s not to like?