EastEnders star Max Bowden pays tribute to tragic friend as he addresses 'hardest storyline I have ever had'

The storyline struck a tragic chord with the actor
By Joel Harley

EastEnders star Max Bowden has paid tribute to the tragedy of losing his best friend in what he has called ‘the hardest storyline I have ever had’. Max, who plays Ben Mitchell on the soap, made the revelation on his Instagram account.

Ben looks over Lola, who is lying in bed on EastEnders
Ben has been unable to come to terms with Lola’s dying (Credit: BBC)

Ben Mitchell rages against Lola’s death

Max’s scenes this week saw him struggling to come to terms with Lola’s terminal prognosis. With Lola now only days away from death, Ben finds himself desperately raging against her dying.

In last night’s episode, Ben paid a visit to Lola’s doctor to see whether she could be saved through experimental treatment. As the episode ended, Ben caught a last-minute flight to the States, hoping to find a miracle cure for  Lola.

Ben talks to Lola's doctor on EastEnders
Max posted a clip from this scene to his Instagram account (Credit: BBC)

EastEnders star Max Bowden posts tribute to tragic friend

Following the episode, Max posted his scene with Lola’s doctor on his Instagram account, describing the story of his own best friend, who was killed by a brain tumour.

In the caption accompanying the post, Max wrote: “This clip is from tonight’s episode. This storyline has been the hardest I have ever had to deal with. 21 months ago I lost my best friend in the world to an undiagnosed brain tumour.”

He continued: “Friday afternoon we were on the phone for an hour discussing Ronaldo to united return, 24 hours later he went into a coma and never woke up. Coming to terms with this grief has been the most turbulent, overwhelming, impossible thing I have ever had to overcome, and telling this story with Lola has been a tough old ride but an incredibly rewarding one.”

Ben Mitchell on EastEnders

Max went on to explain that Ben is a ‘complicated man’ (Credit: BBC)

Max explains Ben’s ‘complicated’ motivation

The actor went on to explain Ben’s turbulent reaction to Lola’s death. He wrote: “When we lose someone, we never know how we’re going to feel, how we’re going to change. Ben is no exception.”

“He is a complicated man. Riddled with trauma, insecurities and complexities. Fear can turn us into monsters. Many have picked up on this and I’m glad, this is exactly what we wanted to portray. Every one of the Mitchell’s are dealing with it very differently, and that’s credit to the writing team and the story team.”

“Playing a character doesn’t mean I agree with his choices, however we can all appreciate that grief does different things to different people.”

Read more: Complete EastEnders cast list for 2023 right here!

EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One

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