Jordan Price is proving to be a destructive force in Hollyoaks as fans have already seen the drug dealer start to groom Juliet Quinn (Niamh Blackshaw) and will soon see him target Ollie Morgan (Aedan Duckworth) as part of the show’s long running County Lines drugs storyline.
And it’s only set to get worse – so we thought it was time to catch up with Connor Calland, the man behind the manipulative youngster who is set to corrupt the youth of the village in the worst possible ways.
The actor told Metro.co.uk: ‘I kind of had an idea where it was going in the storyline and where it was going to go as he’s a deep and interesting character to play. He’s really complex – the way he has been manipulated in the past and his own psychological state has led him here. He deals with certain situations very reactionary.
‘Juliet is currently most at risk just because she is with Sid who is Jordan’s only point of contact in the village. And being her age and in the life situation that she is in makes her vulnerable and an easy target. But she is also streetwise so Jordan sees a lot of himself in her – but I think anyone who is the young in the village and has something going on is at risk. Moving ahead, he will certainly target other people.
‘With Ollie, there is something coming up – Jordan will try and take his mind away from everything. He introduces Ollie into this world slowly and manipulatively. He doesn’t really know Ollie so he’s a little bit more cautious with him – he needs to tread carefully there but he does edge his way into his world.’
County Lines is an issue which many are unaware of but which is a growing and worrying issue in society – and Connor admits to being shocked by how far people like Jordan can go in real life.
He said: ‘I knew little bits about it but not as much now as I have educated myself for this role with research. When I was in high school we had conversations about drugs but it wasn’t something as prevalent as it is now. Since doing the research, it’s quite scary how much is going on.
‘The little we know – you feel guilty how unaware we can be to it and what’s going on. Seeing how someone like Jordan operates around these characters is frightening to watch as the characters around are so unaware of the issue. So it’s such an important thing to do as that’s the same of people in real life.’
Having seen the flash forward episode, which ends with many of the youths being cornered by police and someone in a body bag, we know that things will spiral out of control. But Connor has no idea how we get from here to there, yet.
He smiled: ‘Your guess is as good as mine! I’m really excited to have the hints and notions of where it could go. It’s nice to not know and find out new things as we go. We are all discussing things on set and everyone’s new suggestion changes my mind. I’m really intrigued to see what happens to the latter end of the year and how the events happen currently start to unfold and how characters react to the true side of Jordan.
‘With regards to not knowing, it really does help with performance. For Jordan, he doesn’t get to plan so far down the line, it’s dependant through the circumstances, so playing that way is more authentic.’
But what kinds of reactions is he getting from the passionate viewers? Any backlash yet?
He laughed: ‘It’s been a really healthy mix! A lot of people understand he is just a character – I am not him! It’s good people know that! There has been a lot of support as a new cast member – it’s so close knit so I was intimidated being the bad guy to shake things up but everyone here has been so lovely and the fans are so passionate and supportive.
‘It’s nice to get feedback about Jordan from fans as it shows the kind of job you are doing. Those are the people you want to impress and we really want to do it justice for them.’
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