Sienna Blake

Sienna Blake
Hollyoaks character
Portrayed by Anna Passey
Duration 2012–
First appearance 21 November 2012
Introduced by Bryan Kirkwood
Classification Present; regular
Profile
Occupation Barmaid (2013)
Nanny (2013)
Receptionist (2014)
Shop Assistant (2015–)
Home 5 Oakdale Drive, Flat 1

Sienna Blake is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Anna Passey. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 21 November 2012. Emily Lawrance was originally selected for the role but Passey replaced her. The recast occurred within weeks and only Passey has appeared on-screen as Sienna.

The character has featured in many high-profile storylines, including discovering her twin brother Dodger Savage (Danny Mac) is alive, discovering an affair of her half brother Will Savage (James Atherton) and Texas Longford (Bianca Hendrickse-Speedlove), a relationship with Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) and stealing his wife Nancy's (Jessica Fox) life, faking a pregnancy, being kidnapped by her half-brother Will, suffering a mental illness, looking for her long-lost daughter Nico Blake (Persephone Swales-Dawson), being locked up by her father Patrick Blake (Jeremy Sheffield), a relationship with Ben Bradley (Ben Richards), hiding the fact that her daughter Nico murdered Ben's daughter Carly Bradley (Sophie Wise) and being abused by her daughter.

Casting

The character of Sienna was announced on 7 October 2012, with Emily Lawrance cast in the role.[1] However, the role was recast with Passey before the character made her on-screen debut.[2] Sienna is the twin sister of Dodger Savage (Danny Mac), the twin sibling Dodger never knew he had.[2] Passey made her first on-screen appearance as Sienna in the episode broadcast on 21 November 2012.[3]

Development

“ Sienna Blake is beautiful, clever and calculating, often keeping secrets from those around her. A troubled girl with serious insecurities, Sienna conceals her cold, cynical and manipulative behaviour beneath a charming, warm exterior. This conflicting personality has allowed Sienna to lure many into her web of lies and deceit... ”
— Channel4.com on Sienna.[4]

In an interview with Digital Spy Passey described Sienna as a "bit of a villain" with a more "complicated" narrative.[5] When she joined the show, Passey was disclosed the background of Sienna's character by the producers, "I knew all about her upbringing and the problems she'd had with her family."[5] On the characters background Passey said, "She's had quite an unusual upbringing, because she's never really had any friends. Normally, most people learn how to socialise and form relationships with people as they grow up, but Sienna has missed out on all of that. She's only ever really had her father."[5]

Passey opined that Sienna is not "evil".[6] Speaking to Inside Soap, Passey said: "With her upbringing, she isn't an out-and-out evil person. She really believes she's got her reasons to do what she does."[6]

Storylines

Dodger tracks his father Patrick Blake (Jeremy Sheffield) down, but Patrick is adamant that his son died. After Dodger proves his real identity, Patrick reveals Sienna is his twin sister. Sienna begins spending time with Dodger and takes a dislike to half-brother Will Savage (James Atherton), causing him to fall down the stairs and subsequently become paralyzed. She discovers that Will and Texas Longford (Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove) had sex, but hides this from Dodger. However, Will revealed the truth to everyone at his father, Dirk Savage (David Kennedy), and Myra McQueen's (Nicole Barber-Lane) engagement party, causing Dodger and Sienna to be angry at Texas for her affair with Will, but being the oldest twin, she always supportive Dodger attempts to persuade Texas to be with him instead of Will. Sienna secures a job at the local pub and befriends Darren (Ashley Taylor Dawson) and Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox). However, Sienna soon starts to interfere in their relationship. When she realises that Nancy is developing an addiction to painkillers, Sienna manipulates the situation to get closer to Darren. When Nancy tries to overcome her addiction, Sienna begins spiking her drinks and food with painkillers. Sienna finds Nancy sleeping and starts a fire with an iron to make Nancy appear unable to look after Oscar. She later pushes Oscar's empty pram into traffic causing Nancy to get hit by a car. The series of events cause the breakdown of Nancy and Darren's marriage.

Sienna sleeps with Darren but ensures that Nancy catches them. No one believes Nancy's accusations that Sienna is trying to steal her life and family. Sienna then tells Nancy to run away with Oscar and Charlie Dean (Charlie Behan), but when Nancy leaves, Sienna harms herself and fills her flat with gas to make it appear that Nancy has tried to kill her. The police believe that Nancy has abducted her own children and a police chase results in Nancy's car hanging off the edge of a multi-storey car park. Sienna is delighted when her plan sees Nancy sectioned. When Sienna realises that Darren still loves Nancy, she pretends to be pregnant. She fakes scans and appointments while trying to get pregnant, but she becomes more unstable as the lie escalates. Problems in the Osborne household arise from Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks) and Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins) who still support Nancy. She attempts to manipulate the situation but Tom begins to suspect that Sienna is lying about her pregnancy and catches her breast feeding Oscar. Tom decides to plant a hidden camera and discovers that Sienna has been wearing a prosthetic baby bump.

When an explosion occurs in the local council flats, Sienna kidnaps Tom. She tells him that he caused the explosion and Darren has died. She locks him in the cellar of her childhood home and holds him captive bringing him food daily. Tom is declared missing and a police investigation is launched. Sienna convinces Chloe Chance (Susan Loughnane) to sell her unborn baby to her. Tom manages to escape and Nancy is released from the secure unit. While there, Sienna found her family, Dirk, Patrick, Dennis Savage (Joe Tracini), Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson) and Martha Kane (Carli Norris) kidnapped and held hostage by Will, and discovers that he killed their mother. She becomes angry and disowns him for what he did. Will is later arrested for his murders of Anna and Texas after Dodger comes to their rescue. After Tom escapes the basement and tells Nancy everything, she confronts Sienna and rips her dress revealing that she is not pregnant. An upset Sienna then tries to convince her brother, Dodger, to run away, but she attempts to kiss him. Sienna then abducts Tom, Charlie and Oscar and locks them in the Roscoes' garage. She tries to kill them with exhaust fumes, but they are saved and Sienna is sectioned. It is then revealed that Sienna gave birth to a child when she was a teenager and Patrick told her the baby died but he had actually put the baby up for adoption. Dodger vows to help Sienna find her daughter.

Gangster Fraser Black (Jesse Birdsall) sways a corrupt judge to let Sienna walk free, but other residents are unforgiving and start a hate campaign against her, but they discover of her past was. When she learns that Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell) was born on the same day as her daughter and is adopted, she assumes Peri is her daughter. Sienna manipulates Leela Lomax (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) into letting her move in. Sienna then exposes Danny Lomax's (Stephen Billington) affair with John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) to ruin his marriage to Sam Lomax (Lizzie Roper). The friction causes Peri to rely on Sienna more. Sienna ensures Sam discovers that Danny has slept with George Smith (Steven Roberts). She then tries to abduct Peri but the police believe it is a misunderstanding. When Leela confronts Sienna, she claims that Peri is her daughter, but Leela then reveals that Peri is her own daughter and not her sister. Leela forgives Sienna and tries to help her find Sophie. Patrick, however, pays the adoptive parent to tell Sienna that Sophie, now named Caroline, has run away. Sienna tries to convince Tom not to testify against her in court. She threatens Darren that if he does not she will continue to cause problems for the Osbornes. She causes him to have an angina attack and saves his life, but when Darren refuses to help her, Sienna begins to scheme against Nancy when she discovers she slept with Rick Spencer (Victor Gardener).

When a homeless teenage girl named Nico (Persephone Swales-Dawson) arrives in the village, she reveals that she is Sienna's daughter, but Sienna refuses to believe her and slaps her. She eventually accepts that Nico is her daughter and she moves in with Sienna and Patrick. Sienna starts to get jealous of Dodger being with other women, and when Dodger is having a drink with Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe), she pretends that she has been mugged just so that she can spend time with Dodger. Sienna's love for Dodger grows and while he is sleeping on the sofa in Sienna's flat, Sienna kisses him on his lips. After a confrontation on the boat, Sienna accidentally stabs Dodger in the leg when he tries to walk out on their argument. Sienna later finds out that Dodger is the father of Nico after Patrick accidentally lets it slip and to keep Sienna from telling Dodger, he locks her in the school's boiler room. Tom later discovers her and she begs him to help her, but he leaves her there for revenge after she did the same to him. Nico's prank puts Sienna in danger as a large amount of gas begins to leak into the boiler room and when Tom reveals that Sienna is trapped in there, they go to the boiler room only to find that Sienna has disappeared. While Nico believes Tom was trying to prank her, Patrick knows that Sienna has escaped. Patrick later finds Sienna back at the flat where she tells him she is going to tell Dodger about Nico and locks Patrick in his bedroom to make sure that he cannot stop her. Sienna goes to the boat to tell Dodger but fails to do so when Dodger orders her to leave, making Sienna realise that she cannot tell him. For revenge for Patrick not allowing her to tell Dodger about Nico, Sienna runs over Patrick in Maxine's car and frames Maxine, leading to her arrest, however she is later released. After suffering injuries from a train crash and needing a kidney transplant, Nico asks Sienna who her father is and after Sienna gets angry and storms off, Dodger tries to question her about why she won't tell Nico who her real father is and pressuring Sienna causes her to reveal that Dodger is Nico's father. Dodger does not believe Sienna and starts to think that she is mentally ill again, but when Sienna kidnaps Dodger and takes him hostage to an abandoned building, Dodger remembers that he and Sienna did have sex all those years ago and realises that he is Nico's father. Sienna's love for Dodger grows even more as she gets into Dodger's bed while he is sleeping after getting drunk the night before with Sienna, although Sienna didn't drink anything, and tells Dodger that he forced her to sleep with him. Disgusted at what he has done, Dodger decides to leave the village.

When Nico wants to find her father for Christmas, Peri helps her and finds some evidence. When Sienna, Dodger, Maxine and Patrick are all at The Dog for Minnie's christening, she confronts them believing Patrick is her father, but Dodger reveals that he is, even though Sienna did not want him to tell Nico. This also upsets Maxine and she also gets angry at Dodger. Nico runs off thinking her family would be better off without her. After Dodger tells Sienna that he cannot be a father to Nico, Sienna kidnaps Dodger and handcuffs him to the radiator in the basement of Anna's house where she tries to keep her family together for Christmas. Having Nico in the basement as well, Dodger tells Nico to release him while Sienna is out although she doesn't after thinking Dodger doesn't like her anymore and thinks Dodger finds her disgusting, but when Nico escapes, she falls and lies unconscious. When Sienna finds out, she tries to look for Nico. Nico is rushed to hospital, which leaves Dodger alone in the basement with Sienna. Sienna tries to get her happy ending and on Christmas Day, she makes herself a wedding dress and tries to make a wedding in the basement for her and Dodger, but Dodger says they cannot have a wedding without Nico and reveals he will marry her if she lets him go but Sienna doesn't believe him and tells him to prove it by kissing her. Dodger agrees, but when Sienna leans in for the kiss, Dodger pushes her away, telling her that this isn't right. After Sienna and Dodger have a talk about how their Christmas should have been like when they were children and Dodger promises to support Sienna and help her get better, she uncuffs Dodger and agrees to get help. When in the car, Sienna starts to think that Dodger will not visit her in the psychiatric unit and tries to make him stop driving. As Dodger is distracted from the road, he runs over Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis) and Dodger falls unconscious in the car after hitting his head. Not knowing what to do, Sienna leaves Sinead in the road and takes Dodger back to the basement.

Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter) later finds Dodger and Sienna and a catfight between Theresa and Sienna erupts. The police come rushing to Anna's house but when they arrive, Sienna flees. After Will escapes from court, he and Sienna have a plan to make Dodger come to his senses, although Sienna will never forgive Will for killing their mother and Dodger's girlfriend Texas, and his actions of kidnapping her and her family in November 2013. They tie Theresa to a chair in the basement of the boat but after Sienna comes to, she and Maxine help untie Theresa, but Will comes in. While Theresa and Maxine are tied to chairs in the basement of the boat and Sienna is tied up in an abandoned building site, Dodger runs to save Sienna, thinking it would be Theresa or Maxine. When he helps untie Sienna, she tells him that Will has got Maxine and Theresa and that he is going to kill them. Before Dodger runs off, Sienna apologises and everything she ever did to him was because she loved him too much. Will then sets fire to the boat, with Dodger having to save Maxine and Theresa before it explodes. Sienna later hands herself in at the police station saying she has a history of mental illness and asks for their help.

While sectioned she is approached by Maxine begging for her help to her keep custody of Minnie but Patrick tricks her into refusing. She then sees Mariam Andrews (Helen Lederer) being admitted by Dr. Charles S'avage (Andrew Greenough) she gets close to Mariam to discover Dr. S'avage's secret and blackmails him into getting her released. Her plan is a success but upon her release is jealous to discover that Theresa has taken her place in her family. She then becomes suspicious of Theresa's intentions after catching her using Patrick's credit card and discovers Patrick has motor neurone disease. Wanting to be there for her father, she transfers his money into Theresa's account to make her look like she is using him for his money but she is later discovered. Sienna then grows closer to Dr. S'avage causing a recently released Mariam to become jealous and tell Sienna that he is not a qualified doctor making her furious as he is treating Nico. He convinces Sienna not to tell anyone saying that if anybody found out, she could be deemed fit to stand trial for everything that happened with Dodger. She then gives him an alibi when Mariam is murdered by the Gloved Hand Killer. Later, while on a picnic with Nico, Sienna is stung by a bee and suffers an allergic reaction but Nico refuses to help her mother, believing her boyfriend Dylan Jenkins (James Fletcher) has a crush on Sienna. She is found by Dr. S'avage and he convinces Sienna to put Nico into care, but she soon regrets her decision. Nico agrees to move back in, but spikes Sienna's lunch with painkillers as revenge for putting her into care, but Nico eats the poisoned food herself by mistake. When Sienna finds Dylan looking over an unconscious Nico, she mistakenly believes he is trying to sexually assault her and reports him to Ben Bradley (Ben Richards), but later discovers the truth and plants the pills in Dylan's bag to protect Nico. Ben, however, discovers the truth when Nico has a delayed reaction, however he closes the case and asks Sienna out on a date, causing Dr. S'avage to become jealous.

Sienna later gets a job at Price Slice after impressing the manageress, Simone Loveday (Jacqueline Boatswain), at a trial shift and breaks up with Ben after Patrick manipulates her. However, she reconciles with him and cancels her father's life assurance policy as revenge for manipulating her and planning to leave her and Nico nothing in his will. Sienna is furious when Reenie McQueen (Zöe Lucker) begins dating Dr. S'avage for his money, and after exchanging insults, Sienna pushes Reenie down the city stairs. After Reenie is discharged from hospital, she slaps Sienna and destroys her wicker remake of the Titanic as revenge for nearly killing her. This leads to Reenie's arrest. Sienna then reconciles with Ben. However, she catches him with Nancy, believing them to be seeing each other. She ransacks Ben's house with Nico and discovers a perfume bottle similar to the one Nancy uses. She then storms into The Dog and throws the bottle of perfume at her. Sienna and Nancy then descend into a physical fight, in which Frankie Osborne (Helen Pearson) and Pete Buchanan (Kai Owen) break up, and Sienna is ejected from the pub. Sienna then hides in the wardrobe in Nancy's bedroom while she is getting ready to go to sleep. Nancy brings a glass of water with her. While Nancy goes to the bathroom, Sienna spikes her drink with sleeping tablets as revenge for allegedly sleeping with Ben. However, the next day, Sienna discovers Nancy has not been sleeping with Ben. However, she and Nico catch Ben hugging his daughter, Carly (Sophie Wise), believing her to be his mistress. Not knowing that she is Ben's daughter, Sienna and Nico follow Carly home. When Sienna arrives at the house, she assaults Carly, causing them to physically fight. As they fight, Nico strikes Carly over the head with a paperweight, believing she has killed her. When Sienna and Nico are transporting Carly to hospital, Sienna discovers Carly has died from her head injuries inflicted by Nico. Dr. S'avage attempts to help Sienna and Nico cover up Carly's murder, however this fails and the police get involved. Sienna and Nico are left stunned when Ben reveals that Carly was his daughter.

In the coming weeks, Sienna struggles to cope as Nico's behaviour begins to spiral out of control as she comes to terms with Carly's death. Sienna also has to battle her guilt as she helps Ben through his grief. She tries to comfort Nico after Dylan is killed in a car accident, but at his funeral she pushes Sienna into a grave, threatening to kill her if she does not pull herself together over Carly. Sienna is later furious by the arrival of Ben's ex-wife Sadie Bradley (Kirsty Mitchell), which leads to a confrontation in the pub toilets, and Nico entering and ripping Sadie's blouse. Sadie then manipulates Ben into moving back in with her for a while, which leads to Nico locking Sienna in her bedroom and setting fire to the family flat, desperate to keep Ben in their lives. Patrick and Maxine escape the flames, while Sienna collapses from smoke inhalation. Ben rescues her, and Nico warns her to keep Ben close, or she will be sure to kill her the next time. Ben later proposes to Sienna, but she refuses. After Nico attacks her while she is working, Sienna snaps and orders her to see a psychiatrist, as she can no longer cope with her behaviour. Nico then apologises to Sienna, and Sienna then accepts Ben's proposal. However, Ben finds Sienna with Carly's diamond ring, and persuades her to wear it as her engagement ring. Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) notices Sienna wearing the ring and informs Ashley Davidson (Kierston Wareing), who is hunting for the ring after Carly stole it from her. Ben then hides Sienna and Nico at the police station, knowing that they have been targeted. However, Ashley disguises herself as a policewoman and sounds the fire alarm, forcing Sienna and Nico into a police car and driving off with them. She takes them to an abandoned scrapyard and locks them in the car, grabbing a can of petrol at the same time. Sienna and Nico manage to escape the car, but Ashley attacks Nico, resulting in Sienna striking Ashley over the head with the can of petrol. Nico then orders Sienna not to call an ambulance as Ashley will reveal to the police that they killed Carly. Ashley is later murdered in hospital by the Gloved Hand Killer, keeping Sienna and Nico's secret safe. Sienna later takes advice from Patrick and Maxine about how to discipline Nico when her behaviour begins to spiral out of control again, which she attempts to put into action when she discovers that Nico have been stalking Holly Cunningham (Amanda Clapham). However, when Sienna snaps and mentions sending Nico to boarding school, Nico violently attacks and beats Sienna, leaving her with a bruised face and cut lip. She tells Patrick and Maxine that she was mugged on the way home, however Maxine believes that Ben has been physically abusing her and tries to encourage Sienna to speak out. As Maxine is about to confront Ben, Sienna reveals that Nico was the real culprit. Maxine is still adamant that Ben should know, however Sienna is desperate to keep Nico in her life so informs Patrick of the truth behind her attack, and he convinces Maxine not to report Nico's attack on Sienna to Ben.

Reception

At the 2014 National Television Awards, Passey garnered a nomination for "Most Popular Newcomer".[7] She was nominated in the "Best Bitch" category during the 2013 Inside Soap Awards. In addition "Sienna plots to steal Nancy's life" received a nomination for "Best Storyline".[8] The latter was also nominated for an identical accolade at the The British Soap Awards 2014. But it was the "Villain of the Year" award that Passey secured at the ceremony.[9]

Tina Campbell of the Metro praised Passey's portrayal and described Sienna as having various layers to her personality. She noted that a backstory consisting of a woman beating father, unhinged mother and long-lost brother left her normality doomed. She added that "despite her (many) flaws, you can’t help but love Sienna" and deemed her Hollyoaks' best character.[10] Katie Archer of BT described Sienna as appearing "sweet and innocent", but "on the inside, things are far uglier."[11] MSN.com labeled the character a "barmaid [turned] psychopath".[12] Viewers' perception of Sienna changed during her tenure. A startled Passey told an Inside Soap reporter that Sienna gained sympathy following revelations about her long-lost daughter.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel. "Exclusive: 'Hollyoaks' Dodger Savage to discover twin sister". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 Kilkelly, Daniel (26 October 2012). "'Hollyoaks': Cindy's daughter Holly returning to soap". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (13 November 2012). "3478: Dodger decides to meet his real dad". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Profile: Sienna Blake (Anna Passey)". Channel 4 (Channel 4 Television Corporation). Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Kilkelly, Daniel (30 May 2013). "'Hollyoaks': Anna Passey teases shock fire, Sienna Blake future". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. 1 2 Taylor, Frances (4 July 2013). "'Hollyoaks' Anna Passey on Sienna: 'I don't think she could kill'". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "National Television Awards 2014: full list of winners". The Daily Telegraph. (Telegraph Media Group). 22 January 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Coronation Street leads Inside Soap Awards nominations". Virgin Media. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Dainty, Sophie (25 May 2014). "Hollyoaks wins top prize at British Soap Awards". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Tina (3 March 2014). "From her scheming ways to her dreamy brother Dodger: Why Sienna is the best character in Hollyoaks right now". Metro. (DMG Media). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Archer, Katie (18 August 2013). "Hollyoaks' Sienna Blake - exclusive soap chat". bt.com. (BT Group). Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Anna Passey: Sienna couldn't kill". MSN. (Microsoft). 5 July 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Passey: Fans rooting for Sienna now". Yahoo!. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.

External links

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