EastEnders’ Lola star Danielle Harold on death scene: ‘It’s sad but a privilege’

The past seven months have been full of tragedy for EastEnders’ Lola Pearce- Brown and her family after she was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. But it seems that Danielle Harold, 30, who plays her, has made peace with the fact that her exit from the show will be a permanent one.

“I was sad for Lola, and I’ve played her for such a long time,” she says. “It’s crazy that it’s coming to an end now. But I’ve also been so busy because the storyline has been so full-on that I’ve not really had time to think about finishing or me going."

“I’m glad that I finally got to play so many bits of Lola’s life story that I’ve always wanted to do – we’ve rounded Lola up in a really lovely way this year. And it’s been such a privilege to do this storyline. I’ve been anxious about doing it properly and making sure I’ve done my best.”

Next week, Lola’s health takes a turn for the worse and it’s clear these are the last few days of her life. Danielle’s final scenes have been “so emotional” to film, but it appears it’s been that way from start to finish.

“The whole story has been hard with just how sad it is,” explains Danielle. “Brain tumours are so awful, they affect so many. And watching people decline in that way… It’s been very difficult to play.”

Lola arrived in Walford back in 2011, and from the very first moment, she had her eye on Jay [Jamie Borthwick]. They had an on-off relationship for years but finally got married in January, much to the fans’ delight, and are now nominated for Best On-Screen Partnership at the British Soap Awards.

“I don’t think it could have ended any other way for them,” says Danielle. “They’ve somehow managed to stay with each other for so many years. It’s quite rare to get that for a soap couple. They started together so they had to end it together, for sure.”

Someone else Danielle is close to is Perry Fenwick, aka her on-screen grandad, Billy Mitchell. “Perry’s literally like my dad, I'm like his adopted kid. I'm not sure if wanted me or not, but he's stuck with me now,” she laughs.

“He was very emotional on my last day, it's been tough. I’ll miss him, obviously I’ll see him all the time, but I’ll miss getting to act with him every day.”

Danielle was only 18 when she joined the cast, and reveals she’s really going to miss her feisty alter ego. “I’ve played Lola for most of my acting career,” recalls Danielle. “I’ve learnt so much by playing with her and being here. You don’t often get the opportunity to play a character for so long. As I’ve grown up, Lola’s grown up as well – it’s been amazing.”

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