Tuesday, 13 August 2024

Channique Sterling-Brown interview: Dee-Dee starts digging to bring Joel down



Why does Dee-Dee start digging around about the bracelet?

It comes about because Dee-Dee is really excited for the wedding and buys a charm for Maeve to wear, she’s going to be her stepdaughter after all and wants to build bridges with Joel’s ex, Emily. When she attempts to build bridges with Emily, it’s revealed that Joel never actually bought Maeve a bracelet, and also gets a bit of a warning from Emily which is entirely different to what she said the first time they met. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to see Joel really manipulating Dee-Dee and that’s when she becomes quite aware. I think Dee-Dee is already seeing things aren’t quite right and the bracelet is the catalyst for what happens next. 

So what does she actually find out about the bracelet?

Initially, Dee-Dee thinks Joel might be playing away and is now trying to find some hard form of evidence to confront him with. Dee-Dee almost has a photographic memory and is now searching for the name of the jewellers on the receipt that she found back in November time but once she finds the jewellers and the bracelet, that’s when the link to Lauren could be created. 

She visits Lauren who reveals she’s going to Belfast, where Dee-Dee knows Joel booked a flight, does her heart sink at that moment? 

It’s a strange one for Dee-Dee because she almost didn’t want to let her mind go as far as that as it will confirm her worst fears. At the same time, because of the type of person Dee-Dee is, she just needs to know the truth and there’s a real battle going on inside her mind. 

So she won’t immediately blow up at Joel? 

I find it quite interesting because she doesn’t and that’s what I would do! I think she almost needs complete concrete evidence for herself to confront him. Joel is a great liar and manipulator so at this point, Dee-Dee is very aware that he’s got an answer for everything, they are both lawyers afterall. Even though things are falling into place and she’s seen this little flash of his true character, she knows she needs to be careful, but not as careful as she probably should be when she learns the extent of who he really is. 

She’s got to know when to play her hand

Definitely. The one thing I said to the producers at the start of this storyline was ‘she’s not stupid and I don’t want her to look stupid’ and there’s this whole chapter where she is in the dark. It’s been really important to establish this relationship because Joel has gotten to know Dee-Dee so well which has allowed him to manipulate her to the best of his ability. A lot of people find themselves in situations where they’ve been deceived and we’ve got to do them justice by not just having them seem like a rose-tinted glasses type of person. As abusers and narcissists like Joel do, they ensure they have completely sold a different version of who they really are and that was really important for me to portray. 

Can you tease what’s to come? 

Dee-Dee is hellbent on bringing Joel down now. It’s actually not just a personal crusade, she’s absolutely horrified to find out the truth of who he is and what he has done. I think Dee-Dee subconsciously has to stay busy as if she stops and takes note of what has happened, her whole life would fall apart. She’s going to throw herself into trying to get justice for his victims, deflecting from her feelings and conflict with herself, and feelings for this person she loved and who still loves her. It’s a really complicated thing but her main aim is trying to get justice for those involved. 


Glenda Young
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