INTERVIEW WITH BILLY PRICE (SID SUMNER)
Category: InterviewWhat was your reaction when you heard about the plans for Hollyoaks to cover this topic?
I was excited and to be a big part of it is a pleasure. It’s the same with the radicalisation storyline, it was so good because it was such a relevant topic that everyone needed to chat about. I’ve been a part of two strong storylines, I’m very, very lucky and honoured because they’re big, big topics in the news. I’m excited because they can take it in so many different directions with different characters; there’s just so much room to play with it.
Surely Sid knows what kind of person his cousin, Jordan is, why is he working for him as a drug runner?
Sid’s decided to work for Jordan because he just wants to protect Juliet, which is kind of cute. Even though she’s clearly not interested in him, he cares about her and wants her to be alright. He knows what Jordan’s like and knows how manipulative he can be, so Sid’s keeping an eye out for her. Sid doesn’t have any family left apart from Jordan. Sid has been brought up to think that blood is thicker than water – you should always be loyal to your family. Even though Sid didn’t agree with what his dad, Stuart was doing, he still stuck by him, right until the last moment. Sid is very loyal, although misplaced, until it’s at the tipping point.
Hollyoaks showed an episode recently which flashed-forward to NYE 2020 and revealed an unnamed fatality, could Sid be in danger?
Yea massively. You get the vibe that Sid doesn’t want to be working for Jordan and when Jordan asks him to do something, Sid will answer back a bit because he thinks he can. But then he has to put on a front, he has to sell the drugs and deal with bad people. Sid’s getting himself in too deep, so anyone in that situation is in danger. You didn’t see Sid in the flash-forward episode, so it could be him… I’m excited to see how all the points meet up though and how it ends.
It also showed that his current girlfriend, Juliet is in love with Peri, how would Sid react if he found out?
Sid’s not as naïve as everyone thinks. There are a few moments that help him put some pieces of the puzzle together. At the minute he’s doing all the chasing with Juliet, but there’s only so much he can do without getting something back, and this is where he starts to realise that maybe that interest is somewhere else.
Can you tell us about this week’s episodes on location?
They’ve gone away because Sid plans a romantic trip for Juliet, but Jordan gets on the back of that. He pays for them to go, but in return he wants them to deliver some drugs. Juliet invites Ollie and Imran because she doesn’t want it to just be her and Sid alone, but this is not what Sid is expecting. We go to a trap house and there’s an exchange of drugs and money, but Juliet gets them into trouble with the drug dealers who catch up with Sid and Juliet. It’s not looking good for them by the end of the week.