EastEnders actor abused

PinkNews reports:

EastEnders actor Marc Elliot 'abused in the street' for gay character
By PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer May 19, 2010 - 10:51

Marc Elliot said he received abuse for playing a gay character

Marc Elliot, the actor who plays gay Muslim Syed in EastEnders, has revealed he gets regular abuse in the street for playing a gay character.

Syed began an affair with Christian (John Partridge) last year. When his mother found out in December, he was forced into marrying a woman.

Elliot said: "Since playing Syed I have really got it in the neck when I'm out. A lot of people are supportive but there is still a huge amount of negativity."

"I haven't been threatened but there's a lot of cat-calling in the street. Any insult, I've had it thrown at me."

But he added that he valued the opportunity to play the character.

"It's an incredibly important part. In so many cultures being gay is still something swept under the carpet," he said.

The actor won the best newcomer prize at the British Soap Awards earlier this month. The ceremony will be broadcast tonight at 7.30pm on ITV1.

Recently I'm kinda busy because I'm following many soaps. For instance, I started to follow Emmerdale from this February, then now I'm also following EastEnders. Especially I love the storyline of Aaron from Emmerdale, but also I really sympathise with Syde from EastEnders. However as my opinion, if someone wants to hide their secrets, they shouldn't step into the other side. In my opinion, Syed should never have slept with Christian and he should never have come out to anyone, if he really wanted to keep himself safe. On the other hand, I do understand that they want to live as who they are. When you have to live as not who you are, you feel like you are in hell sometimes. But sometimes it's easier to live, if you can hide your instinct. Anyways I hope the actor, Marc Elliot, will not be abused anymore.