The Well-Adjusted James Alexandrou Visits NY
By Larry Jaffee
For the past decade, Martin Fowler, the character played by James Alexandrou, has provided teenage EastEnders fans with a laundry list of how not to grow up.
Let's briefly recount young Martin's various transgressions: childhood truancy and stealing; more of the same in adolescence; general misbehaviour at home, including consistently letting down Mark when called on to help at the fruit-and-veg stall; getting his girlfriend pregnant and abandoning her
. And so it goes.
Therefore, a revelatory opportunity presented itself when it was learned that James and his girlfriend Kara Tointon, who plays the stunning (current in the U.K.) Queen Vic barmaid Dawn, were planning a pre-Christmas holiday in New York.
Debbie Gilbert and Dana Gordon (New York's "Launderette Ladies") quickly put together an impromptu meet-and-greet fund-raiser for WLIW21 at Swing 46, a Manhattan restaurant owned by an EastEnders fan who originally hails from Manchester (U.K.) Several dozen local-area fans came out to meet the actor who gave Pauline repeated heartache.
Alexandrou had a great time meeting us Yanks, and he handily fended off a heckler's questions addressed repeatedly to "Martin."
I handed James a vintage copy of WG issue #26, which contained Gazette co-founder Dan Abramson's posthumous analysis (written circa 1997 or 1998) of the Martin character ("Me 'n Arthur Watching Young Martin Grow," reprinted on page 6). He accepted this tribute with thanks and immediately showed it to Kara. James and I arranged for a time for a telephone interview from his midtown hotel before he flew back home to Blighty.
Walford Gazette: Glad I caught you before you took off.
James Alexandrou: Yeah, I'm checking out in a few minutes.
WG: I was curious about what it was like to grow up with a character who like you was going through adolescence. My question is: Did you find Martin a model of what not to do?
JA: (laughs). Exactly, yeah. Be the opposite. It was strange growing up, going to school and working. I started working on EastEnders my first day of high school. But it was okay. It was sort of like the fat kid or the spotty kid who stands out at school.
WG: How old were you when you started on the show?
JA: Eleven.
WG: Were you already going to a drama school like Anna Scher, which trained many EastEnders alumni?
JA: Yeah, I went to Anna Scher. It's basically a youth theatre group after school and an acting agency for young actors. It's for kids off the street, as compared to kids whose parents have loads of money and can send them to fancy drama schools.
WG: How old were you when you started at Anna Scher?
JA: Eight.
WG: Back then, did you realise you were going to be an actor?
JA: I just enjoyed it really. I remember being in the Nativity play. I didn't think too much about it [that he was going to eventually make his living as an actor].
WG: Were you surprised when you got the job?
JA: Yeah. I was still in what you called "elementary" school. I got called to the headmaster's office, and I thought I was in trouble. My mum cried she was so happy.
WG: Was watching EastEnders a ritual in your household?
JA: Sure. I sort of have memories of dancing to the theme song while I was still in diapers.
WG: Did you have favourite characters?
JA: I vaguely remember Grant, Phil and Sharon, and also Arthur Fowler.
WG: Did you ever get to act with Bill Treacher [who played Arthur, who would become JA's on-screen dad].
JA: No, his character had died already. (Editor's note: Martin was first played by a different child actor.)
WG: It must have been strange being a character that was started by someone else?
JA: Not really. Before me, Martin didn't really have many words. It was really like creating an entire new character.
WG: Yeah, I guess he was like Cindy and Ian's kids in their early days, they were always there in the background but you hardly ever heard them open their mouths. As a viewer, you always wondered if the kids were incapable of doing more. But did Martin go from 6 years old to 12 overnight? That's what it seemed like.
JA: (laughs) Yeah, pretty much, yeah.
WG: So you lived in New York while you took a course at the New York Film Academy. How did you like that experience? And do you have plans to become a director like your on-air sister, Susan Tully (erstwhile Michelle Fowler)?
JA: Maybe. I made a documentary in 2005 about an island off Spain, Ibiza, where it's like a 24-hour party. It's a series of interviews.
WG: After doing EastEnders for 10 years, are you afraid you'll always be labelled 'Martin Fowler' of EastEnders? [Spoiler alert/editor's note: He gave up the role at the end of the year, but the door is open for his return.]
JA: In the last four or five years, it's become more acceptable for a soap actor to do high-class TV. Michelle Collins, Tamzin Outhwaite and Ross Kemp have all gone on to do other shows. Michael Caine reportedly wants to be on EastEnders.
WG: Have a good trip back home, and I'll be sure to look you up when I get to London.
JA: Cheers, Larry. Yeah, that'll be good.
Back to Latest Articles