Hollyoaks Later:
Interview with Ashley Taylor Dawson (Darren)
Ashley Taylor Dawson - AKA the sneaky Darren Osborne - chats about the love of Darren's life, his past Hollyoaks spin-offs, and what it was like fighting Nicola Stapleton (Savannah) in Hollyoaks Later...
Do you think Cindy was the love of Darren's life?
I think up to now Cindy has been the closest thing because there's a bit of longevity in his interest in her, whereas normally he only has little flings. I think before that probably Zoe meant a lot to him, but Cindy is the most compatible.
Did you enjoy filming the Later episodes?
Yes it's been a great laugh. It's been brilliant to work with different people, be on location, get out of where we normally always film. It's nice to get out and do different stuff.
Have you starred in any Hollyoaks spin-offs before?
I have. I was in one of the first ever late nights they did about ten years ago. I was going out with Mandy in that, and it was the late night episodes where Luke Morgan (played by Gary Lucy) got raped - all those years ago.
In Hollyoaks Later, Darren tricks Tony into having drunken sex with a hooker who then abandons him on a potato truck. If you were in Darren's shoes, how would you get rid of Tony?
If I were in Darren's shoes I would have got him drunk like he did and planted something illegal on him so that he got arrested and he couldn't make it to the wedding because he'd be in jail.
Sounds like you're even meaner than Darren!
Well if you want a job doing you've got to do it properly!
What was it like getting rugby tackled by Nicola Stapleton in the last episode?
It was fun, Nicola's a lovely girl. She only comes up to my belly button, she's very small, so it was quite funny to film those scenes.
Given a choice would you prefer to film Hollyoaks Later or the main show?
It all depends on the scripts. They put a lot of time into the Later ones so it was good to do that. I guess whichever one Darren was in more I would prefer to do.
Where would you like to see Darren go from here?
I can never really answer this question because I don't really know. I'd like him to do all sorts of things, but if you're up to something bad then it's going to have to come to an end at some point, you have to get your come-uppance. Darren and Cindy's is a very cold-hearted scheme. I think they would go through with it and I don't think Darren would have any problems with stabbing Tony in the back even now because Darren's that kind of guy. And he's got his eyes fixed firmly on getting The Dog back, he'd more or less do anything to get the pub back because he wants to win his dad's love and approval. But I think Darren misses the point that doing something bad to get it would jeopardise that anyway.