Hollyoaks star Harvey Virdi reveals all on Misbah and Ste's controversial far-right radicalism storyline

Hollyoaks‘ Misbah Maalik will be involved in one of the show’s most controversial storylines to date next year, as she and her family are targeted by a far-right group.

The Channel 4 soap has announced that it will be exploring the issue of extremism, as Ste Hay’s ongoing animosity towards Misbah and her family leads to him attracting the attention of a dangerous group with anti-Islamic views.

Show bosses have been subtly sowing the seeds for the plot recently, as Ste bitterly blames Misbah for the recent death of his sister Tegan Lomax.

Former X Factor and Brookside star Ray Quinn has been cast in the role of Jonny, who befriends Ste with ulterior motives and slowly starts to manipulate him. The long-running story that follows, showing Ste gradually being drawn in by the group, will be one of Hollyoaks‘ biggest for 2019.

Digital Spy recently caught up with Harvey Virdi, who plays Misbah, to hear her reaction to the plot and what’s to come.

What are your thoughts on Hollyoaks exploring this storyline?

“I think we’re doing it because it’s something that needs to be talked about and I don’t think many people are aware of it – I know I wasn’t. I didn’t realise how prevalent it is.

“Finding out that these groups actively use social media to target vulnerable and lost people – and then try to influence the way they see the world – is actually quite scary. I think that’s why it’s really important for a show like Hollyoaks to try to raise that awareness.

“It’s a challenge because of the time we go out. We don’t air after the watershed. But it’s also exciting to explore something this serious in that 6.30pm timeslot, to make people aware.”

How do you feel about the character involved being a huge fan favourite like Ste, rather than someone new?

“Although it’s going to be hard for Kieron [Richardson, who plays Ste], I think the fact that it is a well-loved character is maybe even better, because it just shows you how insidious this can be. It breaks down those barriers and shows that it can happen to anyone.

“Ste’s character at the moment is going through such a lot of change. He’s hurting, he’s vulnerable, he’s lost his sister Tegan and he also loses his business when Imran accidentally burns it down. He’s not in a good place, so in a way, he is the ideal person they would target.

“Ste is not that person – people will say ‘he’s not like that’ – but we’ll see his journey and how he deals with that. Then it’ll be interesting to see how people react to that. The audience will know what Ste is getting into, long before he does himself.”

Should some topics be off limits for a soap to explore?

“Personally, I think the reason people become filmmakers, writers, actors or musicians is to try to explore these subjects. I don’t think there is a subject that is off-limits, but I think it’s a case of how it’s done and approached. If we all sat there and said these things are off-limits, nothing would ever be explored and we need to make people aware.”

Is it potentially problematic to draw attention to far right extremism on a high-profile soap?

“When we first talked about the storyline, initially there is an element of fear that comes in. But then the more I thought about it, the more I think that it is important that we do something like this. I did say to our producer Bryan Kirkwood early on that, in a way, it doesn’t matter that it’s an Asian family. It could have been a Chinese family or a black family.

“If the doctor who treated Tegan had happened to be someone else, Ste would have the same human emotion, regardless of cultural background. He is hurting and his grief is making his anger laser point on Misbah. But if it wasn’t Misbah, it could be somebody else.

“That is why I think although it’s so serious, we do have a responsibility to make it accurate and be as honest as we can be. It’s not specifically about an Asian family, it’s about a family that’s getting the brunt of his anger in this way.”

We’ve heard that there won’t be racist language in the show and the story will remain suitable for the 6.30pm timeslot. Do you think that’s important?

“I think so, that’s our challenge – that Hollyoaks is on at 6.30pm. It would be easy to use certain language, but sometimes these issues can be explored without that use of language.

“People behave towards others in certain ways and sometimes their actions can speak louder than words. You don’t necessarily have to call somebody a name. Especially at the beginning, it’s more underhand than that.”

How did you feel about having this story so soon after the family abuse story? It’s another big issue.

“It’s part of the joy of being on a soap. It’s a heightened genre, so you have your comedy, but you also have your big issue storylines. It’s quite exciting as an actor to try to play those stories with some truth, and also think about how to make it as real as possible so our audiences can relate to each character. By raising the issue, we’re trying to reflect what’s going on in the world – not just in the North West but the whole country.”

Have you all worked together on research?

“The Maaliks have worked together and Kieron has done his own separate research. You do get to a certain point where you go, ‘Okay, I’ve done my research, but now I just have to do it’. Sometimes it’s good to just open a script and try to find a way through that. Sometimes it’s nice, for our scenes as Ste and Misbah, not to know too much.

“At first I did say to everybody that I would like to meet someone who had been through something similar, but I’m not sure I do now. Let’s face it, if someone is racist to me in real life, I’d go through that journey with all of the unknowns – not knowing what’s going on and not knowing how to deal with it.

“I don’t know how Misbah is going to deal with it yet. I don’t know the ins and outs of the scripts, but I want to bring that uncertainty to it.”

Have you ever experienced racism in your own life?

“I have, and there’s two examples of it. I’ve always thought I’ve been really, really lucky, as I’ve had friends who experienced racism all the way through school. The first one for me was when I was quite young – about 7. Somebody threw eggs at my mum and I didn’t know what to do.

“The second one was so many years later. I was about 26 or 27. I’d gone to a food festival and I was in a queue to get a little tester of wine. The woman behind the counter served the person next to me. I was next, but she completely blanked me and went to the other side. It suddenly dawned on me that she was pretending I wasn’t there. She literally picked up the glass and gave it to the person next to me. Again, I didn’t know what to do.

“I had to go outside for a minute as I had to breathe. As soon as I realised what had happened, I had to calm down and come back in, but then I thought, ‘Let it go’. I’ve been thinking about these incidents through the research for this storyline. You can’t hold onto that stuff, but it’s fresh in my mind at the moment.

“For me that feeling of not knowing what to do in the moment, is what I want to bring to this storyline as Misbah. When things like this happen, you don’t know what to do.”

Will it take Misbah a while to realise what’s going on?

“Yes. Misbah understands why Ste is angry and upset. There are valid excuses for his anger, but there has to come a time where she realises what’s really happening.”

How do you feel about the storyline in the context of Brexit?

“I feel Brexit has almost given people permission to say something they wouldn’t have said before. When I grew up in the ’70s, relatives wearing turbans would get grief. I used to think that when I was older, we would have worked through all this.

“For a while we did – perhaps. But now I’m rethinking that. Is it that they always wanted to say these things, and suddenly you can say it? Maybe it never went away?”

It’s also a surprise to have Ray Quinn playing one of the villains…

“I think the joy is seeing someone like Ray Quinn be so sinister. We’re breaking down preconceptions – these people aren’t who you think they are. It would be easy to get someone who looks mean and sinister.

“What is on screen now with Ste grieving is a prologue to the story. It all started with Tegan’s death. You’ll also see Ste lose his business because of Imran’s actions, so all those little things feed in. Lots of other characters around Ste have opposite points of view, so that’s there to counter balance it.”

Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look screenings at 7pm on E4.

Digital Spy Soap Scoop video – hit play below for all the latest Hollyoaks spoilers, as Ste hears big news on the day of Tegan’s funeral and Nancy’s battles with Darren get nastier.

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