Rudolph Walker draws on the experiences of his Trinidadian relatives to help him to portray Patrick Trueman in ‘EastEnders’.
The 78-year-old actor has played the part for the last 17 years and he has been inspired by a number of his own childhood experiences, such as seeing someone once put money under their hat, a trait he has adopted for Patrick.
He said: "I enjoy him. I draw from the fact he’s a really typical Trinidadian from way back.
"I draw on my uncles and the people I work with over the years and I’ve seen over the years and I’ve grown up with over the years.
"The money in his hat and little things like that. I love the character."
One of Rudolph’s main storylines over the years saw Patrick suffer a stroke, and the former ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ star found the research fascinating.
He said: "I enjoyed the challenge, but the amount of research I did at the time. I visited stroke hospitals, I spoke to a lot of people who ended up having had strokes and it was really an insight into what was happening in society.
"There is no age … it can happen.
"’EastEnders’ are doing a fantastic job in highlighting things like that with strokes and prostate cancer."
Rudolph was presented with an Outstanding Achievement accolade at the British Soap Awards on Saturday night (02.06.18) and he is "still recovering" from the shock of being handed the prestigious prize.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’, he added: "I started sinking into the chair.
"I don’t know where it came from and I don’t know what I said.
"Children are always very important, especially what is happening in the inner cities, so within a few seconds I knew I had to say something about that.
"I’m still recovering from the impact of it – it was a shock."
In an impromptu speech, he told the crowd: "The message is for all those young people out there who I’ve worked with over the years, and the ones I haven’t, all the schools all over the country and the inner cities where there are problems – if I can achieve this then so can you."
Rudolph Walker draws on relatives’ experiences to play Patrick
