EastEnders’ Daniel Coonan: ‘Carl is psychotic!’

Daniel Coonan warns Soaplife that Carl is the kind of guy who loves to see people suffer in EastEnders… and not just Phil!

Why does Carl hate Max and Phil so much?
“He doesn’t like Max because he’s with Kirsty. Carl sees himself as charging in on a white horse to save her from a bad marriage. He wants Phil out of the way because he sees him as top boy in Albert Square and wants him out of the way so he can take over.”

What’s the history between Carl and Kirsty?
“They had some sort of fiery relationship when they were both young, but in his crazy head he thinks she’s his woman. He spent years in prison where all he had to focus on was her and how he would get her back when he got out.”
Now he’s also focused on getting rid of Phil…
“He hears that Phil’s having a wobbly moment with Shirley and decides to take advantage of it. He knows Phil needs cash for Shirley and is like ‘I’ve got this deal on, we can make some real money’. We start to see that Carl does actually have contacts and can make things happen.”

Such as a horrific crash… How does Carl engineer that?
“Phil gets in a car with Carl and before he knows what’s going on, Carl crashes it. That shows you how dangerous he is. Phil is left fighting for his life. Carl is injured but conscious.”

That must have been amazing to film?
“It was exciting! I was inside with the stunt man when they detonated the windscreen, as I had to hit the wheel at the moment they did it. I had a few cuts but, hey, you’ve got to suffer for your art!”

And Max gets arrested for tampering with the car brakes! What’s made Carl such a nasty piece of work?
“He has had a bad upbringing – you’ve seen his evil mother. He has been in prison and has had to fight his way through life. Life’s hard-edged for him. And he’s slightly psychotic. Carl’s the sort of person who finds it genuinely heartwarming to see people suffer… as Max and Phil discover.”