‘BEN’S SHOCKED AND CONFUSED’
The Eastenders star on his character’s rape ordeal… Ben Mitchell is struggling to process the horrifying truth of what happened after he met Lewis for an after-hours drink at The Albert in Eastenders last week.
As Ben tried to leave, Lewis refused to let him go and raped him…
‘There’s a massive element of confusion around what’s happened,’ says Max, who plays Ben. ‘He’s thinking, “Why has this happened? Is it my fault?”’
With Ben having stayed out all night, his family and friends have assumed he’s cheated on Callum with Lewis, but he can’t bring himself to put them straight…
‘He becomes a complete shell of himself,’ says Max. ‘It will come out eventually, but at the moment he’s shocked, confused and coming to terms with the fact he’ll never be the same again.’
For this storyline,
Max worked closely with Survivors UK, a charity that supports men who have suffered sexual violence and offers advice to their families and loved ones.
‘It made me appreciate how important this story is,’ says Max. ‘As an actor, it’s exciting to get your teeth into something that’s taboo, dark, and dangerous, but you have a duty when you take on something like this because it’s not my story I’m telling, it’s the story of the survivors, so you don’t want to get it wrong.’
✣ Eastenders is on BBC1
‘HE BECOMES A SHELL OF HIMSELF’