Zoe Henry plays Beth
Zoe Henry is about to undertake the most demanding role of her life.
She is due to give birth to her first child by husband Jeff Hordley (Emmerdale's
bad boy Cain Dingle) at the end of October.
Naturally, Henry is finding this a very exciting, if not nervous, time
but some of the side effects of being pregnant have made life very interesting
for the eastender:
"I now have baby brains," laughs Henry. "My brains have just gone! I
have to write loads of lists now because if I don't I forget everything
and I'd never get anything done!
"When we were filming Conviction, all the boys were having great laughs
and going out and I was the grandmother of the group because I was asleep
all the time that I wasn't filming - asleep or eating!
"And I was the only non-drinking, non-partying member of the gang."
Henry plays Beth, the headstrong lawyer sister of CID officers Chrissie
and Ray and daughter to former policeman Lenny, who is now suffering from
Alzheimer's disease.
Beth's struggle with her father's illness certainly struck a chord with
Henry as she too has experience of how traumatising Alzheimer's can be.
"I am a care worker as well as an actor and I work with people with Alzheimer's.
I do think that it's the people around the patient who suffer just as
much as the patient themselves. It is so painful to be the person who
has to witness what the patient is going through.
"Beth's dad is suffering from Alzheimer's and in complete contrast to
her brothers, she wants her dad to go into a home.
"When her mother died, Beth took over as the one who organises and looks
after them all and has stayed in that role ever since.
"Initially she does appear to be quite callous but I think she has seen
her father involved in some quite dangerous incidents, like letting the
cooker catch fire, and I think Beth is the one who more often than not
is left to pick up the pieces.
"Ultimately she doesn't think it's fair on her dad and feels her brothers
are in denial and won't accept the inevitable."
Beth is shocked when Lenny suddenly announces that he is convinced that
she isn't his daughter.
However, Beth is unsure as to whether this is true or just a symptom
of Lenny's disease. No amount of reassurance from her brothers can ease
her doubts so she decides that she must take things into her own hands
to discover the truth for herself.
Beth's worries in her home life do not affect her working life, however.
She is very committed to her work and passionately feels she must stand
up for those who, she believes, have been wrongly arrested for crimes
they haven't committed.
Her passion for the job and dogged determination means she often prioritises
her work over her family, much to the sanguine of her husband.
"Beth gets sidelined when her client, Jason Buliegh who is the prime
suspect in a child murder case, goes missing and she loses her way a bit.
"However, Beth has the working mother guilt that reveals itself throughout
the series. I remember when I first read the script I thought, 'Jeez she's
a bit hardcore!' - she seems to be all work, work, work.
"But then when she suffers the backlash of the local community for
representing Buliegh, it really shocks her into seeing what she really
has - a loving husband and daughter."
With the impending birth of her child, the working mother dilemma is
quite pertinent to Henry at the moment.
"I think it's a case of each to their own. At the moment I think, 'Yes,
I want to go back to work' but maybe in two months time when I have my
baby in my arms I'll think I never ever want to leave their side. I think
it's a very individual thing."
Beth has rebelled against the vocation of her father and brothers to
fight on the other side of the fence and she is very competitive when
it comes to her older brother.
"Beth and Ray's relationship is almost childlike," explains Henry. "I
think it's this competitiveness and desire to win, to beat her brother,
that drives her on.
"This relationship carries on into work as well. She pits herself against
Ray by representing Buliegh in the 'Little Angela' murder case.
"However by doing this she has made herself a target for the local
'van bangers' and people who want to get justice for Angela.
"I think when she starts to get threatening letters and phone calls,
that's when it starts to hit home and it gets really scary for her - it
panics and frightens her.
"But in those panicky times, she turns to the very person she thought
she never would - Ray. That is really hard for her but it's lovely to
see because it shows there is something deeper than just this competitive
edge."
Printable version