Imran Adams was bullied "all of his school life" for his love of books.
The \'Hollyoaks\' actor can relate to his character Mitchell Deveraux\'s latest storyline, which has seen him attempt to suppress his feelings for Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams) for weeks, only for his desires to be revealed to his girlfriend Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin) this week, with the plot coming to a head in an epic three-hander episode on E4 last night (31.10.19).
And Imran admits he also attempted to "pretend to be something [he\'s] not" to fit in during his school years. When asked if he has faced a similar obstacle of being true to himself, he replied: "I think we all have, but especially me as I was bullied all of my school life because I love books and I wanted to be Deputy Head Boy and all of that.
"I definitely tried to pretend to be something that I\'m not to fit in and I think that\'s what makes this story resonate with so many people.
"It doesn\'t just sit comfortable in the LGBTQ+ box. It resonates with everyone who has ever felt like they have to pretend to be something, whether they\'re for likes on Instagram, or to get a boyfriend or girlfriend or to get a job, and I feel like that\'s what this story\'s about.
"It\'s about identity, and it\'s about finding your true self within."
The \'Oaks\' star downed triple espresso shots to give himself plenty of energy to shoot the emotional three-hander ep, and did plenty of exercise to give himself the adrenaline he needed to get through the filming schedule.
He added: "The triple-hander episode was definitely one of the hardest things I\'ve ever had to film. I had triple espresso shots to give me the energy.
"I made sure I ran and did my sit ups and push ups to give me the adrenaline that I needed. I knew the weight of responsibility within this scene because I know a lot of people were able to see themselves and see someone that they love within Mitchell\'s character.
"A lot of times, especially with the younger audience, it\'s easy for them to judge a character a certain way. He\'s a cheater, he\'s a bad person, and he\'s lying. It\'s not as simple as that and it\'s not as one dimensional as that. It\'s very complex, there is no baddie and there is no goodie. For me, I had to let people see the humanity, even above and beyond his current predicament.
"I wanted the emotion to be raw, I wanted it to be genuine and I wanted it be organic. I wanted people to feel his emotion and for it to be real tears, real emotion, real words.
"The monologue on the stairs was a lot of stuff from the heart and a lot from my research of what it is to be a black man, from the LGBT community, in a situation where he doesn\'t feel like he has any control. He feels like he\'s losing himself when really in fact he\'s actually discovering himself."
The \'Hollyoaks\' three-hander airs again tonight (01.11.19) on Channel 4 at 6.30pm.
