Yahoo News Exclusive: Hollyoaks star Gregory Finnegan on devastating scenes for James
Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks star Gregory Finnegan has revealed the future of James Nightingale's gambling storyline, warning that the popular character will hit "rock bottom" as a consequence of his addiction.
James has turned to gambling as a distraction following the tragic death of his mother Marnie, who lost her life after being caught up in the village's explosion in January.
In an exclusive chat with Digital Spy, Gregory has now confirmed that James's troubles are only just beginning, paving the way for a long-running storyline airing over the coming months.
Gregory explained: "It's been a while since I've had an issue-based storyline like this. I think Hollyoaks is well known for exploring real-life issues well, so I was pleased but obviously it's a responsibility to tell the story in the right way.
"The Hollyoaks team have worked hard with the charity GamCare to make sure that it's a well-rounded storyline that people can relate to. Hopefully it can educate and change lives.
"I've been given a fairly long arc for the story and where it's going to end up. It massively affects James's character, so it was important to know where it was going."
Explaining his character's current state of mind, Gregory continued: "James really is just feeling incredibly destructive. He doesn't see the point in any of it – in his relationships or his work.
"James thinks that the easy thrills from gambling give him a chance to forget and feel something. He's pretty numb to life at the moment.
"Marnie's death completely devastated him and he's just in complete destruction mode. I don't think he knows what's going on half the time."
James's storyline takes another worrying turn this week when he heads to a casino with sex worker Luis, who recently featured on screen as part of John Paul McQueen's alcoholism storyline.
While there, James continues to get in much too deep with gambling by taking some major risks.
Gregory said: "James heads off to the casino with Luis in tow. He comes across a couple of nefarious characters, who are going to take advantage of him in this state.
"It was great fun to film. We shot it out on location, which we don't often do. It was nice to get out and do that – and we had a great director in Sean Glynn.
"They're good scenes, so I think the audience will enjoy them. He has quite a few highs where he's winning quite a lot, but then he's losing quite a lot too.
"You'll see that James gambles away a fair bit of Marnie's inheritance money. James is getting quite deep into cryptocurrency as well, so he sees an opportunity to use Marnie's inheritance money there. He's pretty bitter about the fact that she didn't leave him anything in the first place, so it's a terrible decision and it doesn't end very well for him.
"He does try a few tricks to avoid taking responsibility for the loss of that money, in classic James fashion. Unfortunately, he's not really in a place to make any of this stick and I think people see through him very quickly."
In the immediate future, Hollyoaks will explore how James's relationships with his family are adversely affected by his troubling behaviour.
"I think James's family are becoming increasingly aware of what's going on and it's going to have a very detrimental effect on their relationships," Gregory told us.
"It gets to the point where those relationships may never recover. It really is going to get that bad.
"It's hard to film, because we've spent so long seeing James cultivate a relationship with Romeo, Juliet and even Donna-Marie to an extent. To suddenly watch him break all of those relationships is quite painful.
"I think we're heading towards rock bottom, but we won't get there until a few months' time! It could be over and out for James at this point."
Discussing his research for the plot, Gregory revealed: "The initial story was going to centre around cryptocurrency, so I did my own research into people who have lost lots of money on crypto.
"That's a pretty murky world to get into and one that a lot of people don't understand. I've been trying to educate myself on the mining aspect of it and work out what exactly is going on.
"I've also been having conversations with the writing team and the producers, who feed back the messages and the ideas that we want to get across.
"Obviously you do your own research as an actor to make sure you're telling the story the right way, as we want it to resonate with the audience."
With James on such a self-destructive path, Gregory refused to reveal whether he can ever come back from this.
Asked whether he can reassure fans over his future in the show, Gregory laughed: "No I can't! I'd love to be able to, but I literally couldn't do that right now.
"James is really going to hit rock bottom – the worst we've ever seen him. At this point, it's more than possible that he won't come back from it."
Fiona Macleod, Director of Clinical and Communities at GamCare, also spoke to Digital Spy about the storyline.
MacLeod said: "We have worked closely with scriptwriters at Hollyoaks to ensure James's story is as clear and as accurate as possible. It is important to raise awareness of how gambling can harm people and we hope James's experiences will help to do that.
"The challenges that James's character is facing affect so many of those who reach out to our helpline for support, from relationship breakdowns and financial difficulties, to a feeling of being alone or mental health concerns.
"Anxiety and stress were the most common health impacts for those calling the National Gambling Helpline last year.
"We want to highlight the signs that could suggest someone's gambling is a concern. These include becoming more withdrawn, chasing losses to try and win back the money they have lost, or being dishonest about the amount of time they're gambling.
"We are here for you around the clock, whether you need help yourself or you're affected by someone else's gambling. If anything here seems familiar we would urge you to get in contact our helpline to get free confidential help and support from a trained Adviser."
Hollyoaks airs new episodes from Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look screenings at 7pm on E4.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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