Perry Fenwick: The Cockney Bloke Who Plays 'Billy Mitchell'
By Larry Jaffee
BOREHAMWOOD-When you enter the dressing room of Perry Fenwick, known to us EastEnders fans as Billy Mitchell, you can't help noticing a giant poster of the British rocker Ian Dury, who died a few years ago. There's also on a chair a stuffed replica of Terence the dog that Billy gave to Janine as a gift.
Walford Gazette: I ran an obituary of Ian Dury in the Walford Gazette when I learned he died. I wrote although Ian was not a Cockney, he certainly lived the Cockney spirit.
Perry Fenwick: Oh, he's great. He's more of an Essex boy really, but I mean he's a brilliant bloke, absolutely brilliant bloke. I was in a film with him that Bob Hoskins directed called "Raggedy Rawney", and we filmed it three months in Czechoslovakia in 1987. He played a bit of a rock star in it. It was before the Berlin Wall came down. So it was still very communist and kind of, you know, very secret and lots of KGB people around. That was the only time in my life that I've actually seen a television get thrown out of a hotel room window.(Laughter) And it's quite a weird thing to see.
WG: Who threw it out?
PF: Dury. He was just so fed up with this place and just one night we'd had a few Schnapps too many and he said he was gonna do it. So everyone went out onto their balconies and just looked and you just saw this television come out of a thing and it just went slow motion. And just smashed into a million different bits, but it was very funny. [Pointing to the poster, Perry says] I got that from the [EastEnders] set, a smaller one of it, and they blew it up for me.
WG: Let's talk about the Billy Mitchell character.
PF: Yeah, sure. Ask away.
WG: You have this interesting relationship with Phil. I mean you're related by blood, but at times Phil can turn on you at any second and disown you, like in The Godfather almost.
PF: It's a funny one really because I mean it's like you say. When I first came into the show, it was only for four episodes. It was to introduce the character of Jamie Mitchell. It's kind of like they put the show on hold for a week just to concentrate on a certain family or just to kind of make everything easier and swifter for the public. So I got a call and I'd never had an audition for anything in my life. I'd been acting for about 20 years before I got an audition. EastEnders had been up and running for about 13 years. People everywhere would just constantly say to me, "You should be in that EastEnders. You'd be perfect for that because you are from the East End of London." And I always used to say, "Yeah, but, you know, they haven't asked me and I've never had an audition." Anyway, eventually they asked if I was interested in a contract for up to four episodes." I was immediately deflated and just went, "Well, you know, that's not that much." They offered me the job and I asked, "Well, what's the likelihood that this character, you know, returns?" And in the words of the casting director, she said, "Well, he's a Mitchell." So, you know, they were the big mainstay family of the show. "So you can really make it your own - it happens quite a lot - then he'll return."
WG: Were they looking for positive feedback on the character from the critics or the public?
PF: Both. I mean it's a good job, but it can be really so fast. I mean you walk onto the set and that's it basically. You get one camera rehearsal and then you film it, because there's so much to film, especially now it's four times a week. And so it's a bit daunting. You've got to be able to keep up with the pace of it. So, anyway, I got cast and looked at the character and luckily for me, I mean it was - he was a nasty piece of work. The whole story about how he was beating up Jamie. I'm in the last one where people suddenly go, "Oh, Billy Mitchell. He's really nasty." So it kind of gave me two sides to do rather than just being, "Oh, he's and out and out villain," it was more to play with. Steve [McFadden] is an old mate, so he kind of showed me the ropes a little bit and said, "Look, you know, you find stuff in it. You don't have to do exactly what's written now. It's a guideline, but, you know, make it your own and stuff." And I decided, well, I could do it and at the end of that, they said, "Oh, we're pleased and would you be interested in coming back?" And I said yeah.
WG: How long did it take for you to find out if Billy was going to be a regular character?
PF: Six weeks, a long time, because even if they think that you're fantastic, they can't alter the storylines what they've got put down
WG: So the year is pretty much plotted out?
PF: They'll know upstairs what's happening to me up until like, say, next May already, but I only know what's happening to me up until just before Christmas. So it's that far ahead. So when they say "Well, we might, you know, be interested in getting you back," it's then going to be a case of you're available to do it and, two, how serious are they. But then the next thing what happened was that Ross Kemp (Grant Mitchell) announced he was leaving. And so that was gonna leave a gap in the Mitchell family to be filled. Billy was still a baddie, the character, and at that point I'm not sure whether they were thinking, "Oh, he could be possibly a replacement in the same mould as Grant and Phil or he could be like a Nick Cotton-type character. I wasn't really interested in doing that.
Fenwick explains that he was more interested in working the "quite likable" side of Billy's personality, exemplified by his taking an interest in Janine when she was down and out and no one else care to lend a helping hand.
Once it was decided that Billy would be a regular character, the creative team also came up with a storyline for him that explained his dark side, dealing with physical abuse by a former teacher. "A guy turns up in the square and you see Billy being nasty to an old man. It gave him a reason for always being the black sheep." Fenwick has fond memories of the two-hander episode in which Billy confronts his former abuser because it further developed his character, as has his romance with "Little Mo."
The fact that Fenwick is a real East Ender gives the show a touch of authenticity. He tells of a story when he first joined the cast and ran into June Brown (Dot Cotton), who asked "Who are you playing?" When Fenwick announced, "Billy Mitchell," to which Brown replied, "Oh there's another one." June then enquired about where he was from, and Fenwick said "the East End, Canning Town," and Brown responded, "Oh really."
He explains how on this day he's been at the studio since 7 a.m. -- it's about 1:30 in the afternoon when we chat - and he won't leave until 7 p.m. He's expected back on the set for some scenes in the late afternoon. Hoping to run some errands on the Borehamwood High Street before then, so he apologises about having to end our chat prematurely.
Before I go, Fenwick shows me a photo of the EastEnders team soccer team, of which he is a member. He played seriously up to the time he was 17 and still plays.
Fenwick enjoys being recognised while shopping or at the post office, and appreciates how much people enjoy his portrayal of the character, as he points to a stack of fan mail that he plans on soon answering. "People believe Walford does exist."
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