Interview: Leo Richardson, gay scriptwriter on EastEnders
Week in week out, millions of us are hooked on the outrageous shenanigans of the characters in soaps like EastEnders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and The Royals. But let’s not forget it takes a crazy brainbox writer to dream up all the twisty-turny storylines that keep us on the edge of our seats.
So how do you become one of these very special people who breathe life into our favourite TV characters? Here, aTEEN speaks to talented young writer Leo Richardson (pictured, right) about how he landed his coveted job as a scriptwriter.
Soap writing must be a fun job – how did you get your break?
A few years back I wrote a pilot which was on BBC3 called Stanley Park and the very brilliant Dominic Treadwell-Collins [EastEnders’ executive producer] saw it. We had met through mutual friends and got to talking about developing a project together. Dominic knew my work and when he landed the job on EastEnders he asked me to write a trial script. All the writers that come on have to do this, to make sure they can nail the voices of such long established characters. Writing the trial script was pure joy for me because I grew up watching the show. I had loads of Bianca, Carol and Kat in it, as I remember. And a bit of Janine! The fun I had doing it must have translated because they offered me a job.
Was it an overnight success or did you have a lot of obstacles?
There are no overnight successes in writing. You need a break, sure, but it’s a long game and if you’re lucky and you listen to the right people, you get better and better at it. Real success as a writer is longevity, growth and getting paid.
What did you do before you got in to writing?
I’ve had loads of jobs – Waiter, temp, handing out fliers… being the world’s worst builder. My Dad and brother are builders so I used to help them. I was once barrowing cement up a platform to pour it into the foundations of a house. As I tipped the cement, the barrow went in. I didn’t let go of the wheelbarrow and so I went in after it. My brother could have pulled me out but instead he just stood there laughing… took a few pictures on his iPhone… got everyone else so they could come and have a look. I’m sure I would have done the same if it were the other way around.
Writing for a big soap like EastEnders must be like a dream come true!
It’s still surreal. Especially when you meet some of the cast that have been on it since you were little. Recently, Dominic and Alex (our brilliant story producer) purposefully sat me with Letitia Dean at a dinner because they knew I had always been such a fan of Sharon. I was genuinely nervous. Of course, she was absolutely lovely and a total laugh.
What do you make of its portrayal of young gay characters?
The gay characters on EastEnders always feel real to me, and that’s the most important thing. Generally you used to see a more palatable, stereotypical gay character on a TV show — one that was non sexual and sanitised, so as not to offend the people. Thankfully times are changing. We are starting to see real people on television who also happen to be LGBTQ.
What soaps did you devour when you were growing up?
EastEnders and Coronation Street. I used to impersonate the characters. It was a bit of a party piece at home.
What advice would give hopeful writers?
Get out there. Meet people. Do decent courses. If you’re lucky and talented enough to get work, be a nice person to work with. Remember that writing is re-writing, so listen to smart people and take their criticism. Be prepared to never stop learning. Be persistent, but don’t hassle people. Most importantly of all: WRITE. As much as you can. Throw things out there. Some of them will stick, some won’t, but the ones that don’t are never wasted — they are your teachers. Don’t be afraid to fail. You’ll learn more from your failures than you will ever learn from success. Success tells you how great you are but failure tells you what you can do better next time. Nearly every writer that ever did anything noteworthy had to suffer a few heartbreaks first.
You can read our full interview with Leo, plus a whole lot more, in the current issue of aTEEN, available as a digital download from Pocketmags.com/aTEEN.
