EastEnders star Max Bowden has paid tribute to the tragedy of losing his best friend in what he has called ‘the hardest storyline I have ever had’. Max, who plays Ben Mitchell on the soap, made the revelation on his Instagram account.
Ben Mitchell rages against Lola’s death
Max’s scenes this week saw him struggling to come to terms with Lola’s terminal prognosis. With Lola now only days away from death, Ben finds himself desperately raging against her dying.
In last night’s episode, Ben paid a visit to Lola’s doctor to see whether she could be saved through experimental treatment. As the episode ended, Ben caught a last-minute flight to the States, hoping to find a miracle cure for Lola.
EastEnders star Max Bowden posts tribute to tragic friend
Following the episode, Max posted his scene with Lola’s doctor on his Instagram account, describing the story of his own best friend, who was killed by a brain tumour.
View this post on Instagram
In the caption accompanying the post, Max wrote: “This clip is from tonight’s episode. This storyline has been the hardest I have ever had to deal with. 21 months ago I lost my best friend in the world to an undiagnosed brain tumour.”
He continued: “Friday afternoon we were on the phone for an hour discussing Ronaldo to united return, 24 hours later he went into a coma and never woke up. Coming to terms with this grief has been the most turbulent, overwhelming, impossible thing I have ever had to overcome, and telling this story with Lola has been a tough old ride but an incredibly rewarding one.”
Max explains Ben’s ‘complicated’ motivation
The actor went on to explain Ben’s turbulent reaction to Lola’s death. He wrote: “When we lose someone, we never know how we’re going to feel, how we’re going to change. Ben is no exception.”
“He is a complicated man. Riddled with trauma, insecurities and complexities. Fear can turn us into monsters. Many have picked up on this and I’m glad, this is exactly what we wanted to portray. Every one of the Mitchell’s are dealing with it very differently, and that’s credit to the writing team and the story team.”
“Playing a character doesn’t mean I agree with his choices, however we can all appreciate that grief does different things to different people.”
Read more: Complete EastEnders cast list for 2023 right here!
EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One
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