Lacey Lloyd
Lacey Lloyd is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Annabelle Davis. Her casting was announced in December 2022 and she made her first appearance on 18 January 2023. Davis was approached for the role by the soap's producer Lucy Allan, who she had previously worked with on The Dumping Ground. The character was not originally written for a little person and the producers worked with Little People UK, a charity founded by Davis' parents, in order to ensure that Lacey was portrayed authentically. Davis worked on developing Lacey's characterisation and wanted to ensure that the character was portrayed correctly as she felt that it was important to represent minorities on TV in order to raise awareness. The actress ensured that the character was professional due to the lack of small people in certain careers that appear onscreen, and she wanted viewers to see Lacey as more than just a little person whilst also highlighting the lives of disabled people. Lacey was introduced as an aspiring lawyer and the childhood best friend of Rayne Royce.
Her introduction scenes showed Lacey attend an awkward job interview for James Nightingale's law firm and move into a house share with Rayne and several other characters. The decision to introduce Lacey and Rayne was part of the producers' idea to throwback to the earlier years of the soap, where students would live together under one roof. Many of Lacey's storylines revolved around conflicts within her work and her friendship with Rayne. Davis learnt legal terminology in order to help her with the role. Lacey also begins a relationship with her housemate Nadira Valli, which was Davis' favourite plot. Lacey was also central to a special Hollyoaks episode regarding disability, which Davis has praised. Throughout 2023, Rayne and Lacey's friendship begins to break down and Lacey is later involved in a "whodunit" plot when she is considered a suspect in Rayne's murder. Lacey struggles with her grief and clashes with other characters, including Nadira.
Lacey departed Hollyoaks on 10 October 2023 when she left for a job in Norwich, with the character breaking up with Nadira. However, that December it was announced that Davis would be returning, with Lacey's return scenes airing from 4–10 January 2024. The character returned to tie up loose ends from her previous departure, with Lacey's return setting the stage for the conclusion to the mystery of Rayne's killer, with Romeo Nightingale being revealed as the killer. Lacey's return also led to Nadira's departure from the show, with Lacey and Nadira reuniting and leaving the village together. Lacey has been well received by critics and her relationship with Nadira has also received praise, whilst both of Lacey's departures and her reunion with Nadira were considered emotional. However, viewers often questioned why Lacey remained friends with Rayne and predicted that she would ruin Lacey and Nadira's relationship.
Creation and casting
In December 2022, it was announced that Annabelle Davis, who had appeared in The Dumping Ground between 2015 and 2022, would be debuting on Hollyoaks as Lacey Lloyd, a paralegal who would share the same house as established characters Prince McQueen, Romeo Nightingale and Nadira Valli. The news came two months after the announcement of the casting of Jemma Donovan as Rayne Royce, Lacey's best friend who would also move into house. Davis found working in a soap opera to be faster paced and there being a lot to learn, but threw herself into the role. Speaking of her casting, Davis said, "I'm so excited for you to meet Lacey! She's fun, career driven, training to be a Lawyer and now looking for a job. Fingers crossed she gets it. I've had a great time filming with the Hollyoaks gang and look forward to what Lacey gets up to." A few days ahead of Lacey's debut, Davis' father, fellow actor Warwick Davis, posted a tribute on Twitter towards his daughter, writing, "Shout out to my daughter, Annabelle Davis who debuts in the British Soap, Hollyoaks tonight. Never seen the show but will be watching tonight". Davis takes a 7-hour commute to the Hollyoaks in Liverpool set from her home near Cambridge.The character was originally not meant to have Dwarfism. Speaking about her casting, Davis explained that Hollyoaks executive producer Lucy Allan, who Davis had worked with previously on The Dumping Ground, had approached her and explained that whilst the role of Lacey was not "written for a small person", she wanted Davis to "have a look" and see if she wanted to play her. They then had meetings on Zoom to discuss the character and the "different ways" that they could take her, which Davis thought was "nice". Davis was excited to be cast as she believed that it is "so important" to raise awareness on screen. Davis is believed to be the first actor with dwarfism to appear on the soap, and Davis considered the role a chance for viewers to see someone "a bit different" on screen and to learn about the condition, which she hoped would "open doors" for other small people in other soap operas. Davis hoped that being on Hollyoaks would further the conversation about her condition and break down stereotypes.
File:Warwick Davis Photo Op Nightmare Weekend Richmond 2023.jpg|170px|thumb|left|alt=A man smiling in front of a poster|Warwick Davis, Annabelle Davis's father, congratulated her on Twitter ahead of Lacey's debut.
The decision to introduce Lacey and Rayne was part of the producers' idea to "throwback" to the earlier years of Hollyoaks, where students would live together under the same roof. An insider told Digital Spy "The new house of 20-somethings will be a throwback to the early years of the show, when batches of new students would arrive at Hollyoaks Community College and live in student halls together... Fans have often called for a return of this element in the past few years and the new group will have some huge storylines as the soap heads into 2023." When speaking about what was in store for Hollyoaks in 2023, Allan revealed that she was excited about "the twentysomethings' house", which would feature Lacey in the storylines, adding that there were some "brilliant characters" in the house. Davis called filming with her co-stars "great" and called them "fun to work with". Speaking of the characters in the houseshare, Davis called it a "cool dynamic" due to the characters having "different careers, ambitions, interests all under the same roof, all trying to figure life out", adding that "There's fun but there's a lot of heart there too. It's a difficult time in your life to navigate but they've got each other's backs." Davis and Donovan, Rayne's portrayer, had fun working together and Davis was glad to be coming in with her at the same time, as Davis considers herself quite shy and was glad she was not experiencing meeting many new people alone. Donovan was able show Davis "the ropes on how soaps work" as she had previously appeared on another soap opera, Neighbours. Donovan and Davis also bonded over coming from a "showbiz background" and both having an understanding of having "famous fathers", due to Jemma Donovan being the daughter of Jason Donovan, which Davis did initially not realise.
Davis had previously shared a flat with her The Dumping Ground co-star Emily Burnett, who portrayed Olivia Bradshaw on Hollyoaks from 2021 to 2022. Davis was "gutted" to miss Burnett as she had departed from the soap one week before Davis started, but was appreciated that Burnett gave her "lots of advice". Davis was also glad to be working with Malique Thompson-Dwyer again as he had briefly appeared in an episode of The Dumping Ground years prior. Comparing the two shows, Davis explained that Hollyoaks gave her the chance to explore "more adult topics", but noted that the "main difference" is that "the scale of a soap is a whole machine of its own", which she admitted she is still "learning the pace" of. Davis called it "fun" and a "great learning curve" and expressed that she would be able to do "anything" after learning this.
Characterisation
Following Davis' casting, Lacey was described as a "fiercely loyal" and a "great" friend, as well as being "driven" and "forthright" and having aspirations of being a Paralegal. George Lewis from Digital Spy reported that Lacey would bring "calm" to Rayne's "chaos". Davis called Lacey "fun" and "career driven". Stephen Patterson from Metro wrote that Lacey is "very funny" and brings "common sense", and that she would arrive "with a bang". Due to Lacey working in law, Davis spent time learning legal terminology to help her with the role. Davis revealed that Lacey has "a lot to prove" and that she would have some "tricks up her sleeve". Davis also said that Lacey is good at her job and hoped that she would get "her teeth into some good cases". Davis revealed that whilst Lacey is always up for a party, she stays home and studies more, with the actress explaining that Lacey being "very focused on climbing the career ladder" meant that she does not always give herself enough time to "have fun".When "reshaping" the earlier ideas for the character, Davis tried to make Lacey a woman that "other disabled women would see themselves in", as well as wanting the character to embody "a sense of "ordinariness". Davis said she had meetings about Lacey, which led to the character being "tweaked". Davis wanted Lacey to be professional, with Davis saying: "Little people in certain professions, you don't see it, and you don't think it and see that on screen. 'It's like, Oh, wow. Yeah, of course. Why? Why not?'" Whilst appearing on Loose Women, Davis expressed her appreciation for the role, saying, "It's lovely to be given a role that isn't made for a little person because that doesn't really define who you are but on the other hand, it is nice to explore things, some perspective from a little person and actually give viewers that." Hollyoaks producers worked with the charity Little People UK, founded by Davis' parents, to ensure that Lacey came across as a "well-rounded character". Davis was proud to be representing dwarfism in a mainstream show and noted that there was a team providing "insight" to make people aware of what dwarfism is like. Davis believed that soaps present minority groups as normal people, saying that Lacey "is a girl that's applied for a job. She just happens to be short". Davis' goal was to reach a place in the future where representation becomes "so normal, we don't notice it happening. That's when I think we've made it."
Davis hoped that when viewers see Lacey, they will not see "just a little person" but also "a determined woman who wants to make her mark on the world". The actress has explained that whilst it is still important to explain her differences due to being short, it would not distract from her character, and believed that the diversity would add "more colour and flavour to an already diverse show". Davis believed that it was important to give an authentic representation of disability in order to show viewers what disabled people face every day. She felt pressure in representing the experience of little people on screen, with Davis saying:
"You want to create a character that the majority of people in the community can relate to and empathise with. You become far more aware of the scripts and conscious of writing. I struggled with this at the beginning fearing I was being too overprotective. But then I realised, there are so many little people out there with their own distinctive personalities and challenges, one character could never speak for all of them."