What a year it has been for Anna Passey so far! The Hollyoaks queen has been at the centre of a number of storylines, including the aftermath of Ethan’s death, the loss of Dilly in devastating circumstances and now she has been pulled into the end of Abe Fielding too!
But that’s not all! Fans were taken aback by a curveball which saw her grow close to former enemy Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin) after they worked together to try and bring abuser Abe to justice.
What followed was comforting words from Sienna who has been down the whole covering up deaths and taking revenge rodeo before. The new found bond led to a passionate kiss in the heat of the moment.
Here, in a chat with Metro, she tells me exactly where the story might be going, her praise for Hollyoaks embracing sexuality fluidity and how much danger her alter-ego might be in from her murderous dad Jez (Jeremy Sheffield).
Buckle up, Sienna’s chaotic life isn’t going to get any less so in coming months!
You’ve been through such a rollercoaster on screen recently, what was all that like to film?
When I first picked up the scripts I was expecting… not that! When you’re not in a story you watch it as a viewer and you don’t know what’s coming up with it, so I wasn’t expecting to cross over at all.
So when I got the script and read everything with Cleo, I was excited to be joining their story.
They always manage to keep things fresh with Sienna, was it nice for you for this story to come along?
Definitely. Since we jumped to the three episodes, we’ve seen a lot more of the community and people jumping in and out of each other’s lives which I think is really great.
I enjoy working that way. In soap people tend to stick to their little groupings so it’s nice to be able to form relationships and jump into other people’s storylines, it keeps things exciting. It’s brilliant when you get characters who have existed in the village for years and you get something new and fresh out of combining new characters together.
Sienna has crossed paths with Cleo before but not in such a nice way. What’s it like working with Nadine now?
I don’t know what’s wrong with my memory, I couldn’t even remember doing scenes together. Nadine reminded me of all the stuff we did over Joel way back when.
From an acting perspective, Nadine is one of my favourites. I love everything she’s done and she’s always on my wish list of people I’d want to have scenes with. I love the character of Cleo and weirdly I think there are a lot of similarities of vulnerability in them at different points of their lives.
They’ve been through a lot individually and they’re part of big families that have lots of stories going on so it was really nice to hear that I would get some material with Nadine.
How did you react when you found out about Cleo and Sienna? Were you on board straight away?
It was wild! Absolutely not what I was expecting. If you’d have asked me a list of things that were on the cards for Sienna, I don’t think that would have featured. It was a big surprise but I was straight on board with it because weirdly it sort of makes sense to me.
When we saw Sienna with Summer in a previous relationship, it wasn’t that Sienna was changing her preferences or anything like that, with Sienna it’s all about the person.
When Summer came into her life it didn’t matter that she was female – and that most of Sienna’s other partners have been male – she just found something in this person that she connected with. I absolutely believed in that relationship wholeheartedly and I think the same thing happened here.
With everything Cleo has been through and where Sienna is in her life – she’s not alone but she’s feeling lonely and isolated. She’s been integrating with her family and she didn’t realise there was this whole history with Martha, Jez and Patrick.
Suddenly she finds herself in this situation that she’s not sure how she got into and she can’t tell anyone and with Cleo being mistrusting of people, these characters are in a bubble where they realise that nobody else can relate to what they’re going through – the moment Sienna goes into the bathroom, Cleo gets it and she sees Cleo.
She thinks: ‘I can’t tell you what I’ve been going through but I see where you are right now and it’s exactly how I feel inside’. This connection between the two of them has come about because of the situation that they’re in and they look into each other’s eyes and see something there.
Is Sienna intimidated by the fact she’s showing vulnerability or is it a relief for her that she’s found someone she can open up to?
I think it’s a relief for her. I think she thinks so highly of Cleo. Cleo is many of the things Sienna wishes she could be. Cleo has a purity about her – she is a good person and she chooses the right thing when Sienna usually chooses the wrong thing.
Sienna can see a world where she could have been more like Cleo and she really holds her in high regard, despite the trouble they’ve had in the past. She is pure heart and that really attracts her.
It’s a relief to look at someone and think you’re not going to judge me, and I’m not going to judge you. They get each other in a world where no-one else possibly could, and I think that’s a huge relief for Sienna.
Would you like for them to embark on a relationship?
I am a huge fan of it! When Sienna gets a partner in the village I always think: ‘Is this person good for her? We’re going to get the story, but – as a human – are they a good match?’ and I think Cleo is a resounding yes.
She would be so good for Sienna and they’d bring out the best in her. I think some of Sienna’s previous partners have been at their best when Sienna has been at her worst and vice versa so I would love for it to be a thing.
The reaction straight away has been very strong – are you ready for it?
I wasn’t sure with this, if I’m honest, how the viewers would respond. I know the viewers love Cleo and she’s a treasure and they also really get behind Sienna so, individually, I know these two characters are really loved by the viewership and there is a strong suggestion that they would be liked together.
But my concern was that Cleo has been through so much. Sienna, when she’s in her best state, is so caring. She has a big heart and if we get that side of her with Cleo, I think it’ll be a beautiful thing. But my fear with the fans was that they’d be thinking: ‘Cleo has been through so much, she cannot take Sienna as well!’ [laughs].
If they’d maybe feel a bit protective over Cleo’s mental state right now but that’s not been the case at all. I’m quite surprised actually at how supportive the fans have been straight out of the gate but I suppose they know these two characters very well so they can see what I see in it.
The fans do root for Sienna, don’t they? They do want her to be happy?
They do and I think that comes from being able to see someone, and I think people do see Sienna – even though she gets it wrong an awful lot and finds herself in some very unfortunate situations.
She responds very badly in the moment and not always making the decisions you should make but I do feel like the fans see that there is goodness in her, she’s just a product of being dealt a very bad hand in life.
They do root for her and we know Cleo so well so I do think the audience would love for them to be together. Warren hurt Sienna a lot and Ethan hurt Sienna a lot – I don’t think we can imagine a world where Cleo would hurt Sienna.
In that sense, there’s a certain safety to it and that’s a really lovely thing. So maybe that’s why the fans have come together and are rooting for this romance.
Are you glad that Hollyoaks is exploring this theme of fluid sexuality – it’s so fluid in real life for so many people so are you glad that Hollyoaks is so good with representation?
It makes me feel really proud because you don’t always see it. I think what’s so good with Sienna, is how do you put a label on her? People are so complex. In the comments you see: ‘Is this person bi now? Is this person gay?’.
The show doesn’t feel the need to label that, it’s just allowing it to be what it is. I think that’s going to be appreciated by a lot of people. It’s a strange thing to want to put people into organised boxes because how many people actually fit into it? It’s enough that we can just see something organically for what it is and not feel the need to define it.
We know Jez is responsible for Abe’s death, how do you think Sienna will react?
I mean, we’re not really big fans of Abe but I think Sienna will freak out. With everything that’s happened recently, I think the only way Sienna has been able to cope with the situation is to believe that it was a complete one off.
This really terrible thing that happened with Dilly, it’s done and it’s not going to happen again. I don’t think she has the capacity to cope with the idea that it’s something that’s going to happen often. It will be a really scary thing for her to understand and there might be more to come because she can’t imagine worse than what’s already happened.
Is she in danger or is she the one character that’s safe?
I think she’s the one person that’s safe – safe in the sense that they won’t be burying her in the allotment anytime soon! – but safe has lost its meaning.
But I don’t think it would be a good thing for her not to comply with the Blake family history. I think they believe her to be as on board as they need her to be and as long as it stays that way she doesn’t pose any problems.
I do think Jez’s motivation is to have his daughter in his life. It’s such a mess but they don’t want to rock the boat so I can’t imagine she’d be in danger in that sense but I don’t know what life is going to look like for her if she questions many more of their actions.
It’s been a number of months since the time jump – how are things going?
I have to say it’s been a tricky old time for everybody. I think that extends to the viewers and people who are a part of the show in that sense as well. But it does feel like we are finding some stability and there is a lot of positivity around.
There is a lot of energy for the stories and the characters and we feel it – and it seems to be reflected back in our viewers as well. I feel like we’re in a very hopeful place and I’m enjoying my work very much at the minute. I’ve done this job for 13 years and you think you know what you can expect so I’m now being surprised again. We’ve got lots of creativity flowing at the moment.
There’s an anniversary coming up. Do you know much about it or is all top secret?
It’s very top secret. There is a buzz about it – it’s mentioned often. We’re all speculating but nobody has any information at all just yet. Whatever it is, I know it’s going to be exciting.
