Beyond Paradise’s Zahra Ahmadi has said the one trait that she thinks DS Esther Williams needs to kick is her tendency towards being closed off. During an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, the Betrayal actor shared her thoughts on her character ahead of the show’s season four premiere.
“She needs to quit with this. It’s not serving her,” she said. “It is now at a point for Esther where it’s really unhealthy… This absolute refusal towards vulnerability and this essential need to be stoic all the time. It’s beyond tedious and it’s actually not doing her any good.”
Hinting at what Beyond Paradise has in store for her character in the upcoming season, the actor added: “In spite of herself, she’s actually releasing and moving into that [vulnerability] and it’s what she needs to do. I certainly think she’s developing strength from it more than anything. We see it [happening] towards the end of the series, she’s sort of blossoming a bit.”
BBC
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Reflecting on Esther’s past, Ahmadi shared her compassion for the character, stating: “I think we have to remember that she became a mum at such a young age, perhaps she hadn’t quite finished that emotional maturity.
“Of course, being a mum at a young age, you develop massively in terms of emotional maturity, but there’s a stunting because you haven’t quite been able to do that into full adulthood before you’re then able to guide someone else through life.”
She continued: “I think she had to skimp on her development to ensure that Zoe had the very best and maybe that’s why she’s emotionally inept at times.”
Ahmadi teased a switch-up in dynamics in season four, with some role-reversing between Esther and Kris Marshall’s Humphrey.
“There are really lovely moments with Humphrey in this series. Oftentimes it’s been slightly more Esther [offering him help] in terms of personal life here and there. This time it really flips-reverses and he’s really guiding Esther at points and she lets him, which oftentimes she doesn’t with anybody.”
She added: “There’s also some lovely stuff with Martha as well. Their friendship really grows.”
While Esther is still embroiled in a will-they-won’t-they ‘situationship’ with Jamie Bamber’s Archie, there’s something more crucial that Ahmadi wants her character to be fulfilled by.
BBC
“I would really, really like for Esther to fully experience love and I don’t necessarily mean romantic love,” she said. “There is a huge amount of protection in the way that she operates on a day-to-day basis. And I understand that coming from her job, but it’s also very much informed by her history, the loss of Zoe’s dad.
“I would love for her to let go, to not protect herself, to experience pain and know that it’s okay because sometimes it can come from the greatest of feelings. So that’s what I hope for Esther.”
Beyond Paradise’s season four debut will air at 8pm on Friday, 27 March followed by the final episode of Death in Paradise season 15. Beyond Paradise, Death in Paradise and Return to Paradise air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. Â For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. Â She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
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