Rishi Nair has drawn on his own experiences with racism and the "bubbling anger" he’s felt at times to help him play out Hollyoaks’ radicalisation plot.
The 28-year-old actor – who plays Sami Maalik on the Channel 4 soap – has opened up about hearing distasteful comments, admitting he has had to "second guess [himself]" on occasions, because he couldn’t believe what was being said.
He explained: "From my experiences, even when I’m older, I get that little look and that little comment, and you always second guess yourself and you think, ‘Did that just happen or am I over thinking it?’
"I think we can use that and I can draw on that feeling, that bubbling anger and upset."
Hollyoaks’ hard-hitting storyline has been a slow-burner, in which Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) has been groomed by a far-right group for months, and the plot took a sinister turn this week when a terrorist bomb went off in the village.
As part of the storyline, ‘Hollyoaks’ have teamed up with Small Steps founder Nigel Bromage, who has opened up about his experience with far-right extremists.
He said: "If you’re just on the side-lines leafletting, or stickering or marching, you’re expendable. If you go to prison, they do not care about you.
"We’ve got to be a bit more open and honest and say actually, this problem is huge, and you know, if people like ‘Hollyoaks’ etc are taking this message on board, this is only going to get the message out to more people, which means more help."
While some ‘Oaks’ fans have insisted the storyline has been a tough watch, Rishi recently admitted that is exactly what show bosses and the cast wanted.
He said: "When we had that first special episode that aired, a lot of people were saying, ‘Hollyoaks shouldn’t be doing this. It’s so difficult to watch.’
"Essentially that’s what we wanted. We wanted it to be a hard watch because racism is hard, you can never paint that in a good light.
"We wanted people to feel uncomfortable watching it, because if you do see racism, it is really uncomfortable."
Rishi Nair drew on own racism experiences for Hollyoaks radicalisation plot
