Honour Chen-Williams is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Vera Chok. The character and casting was announced in November 2021 and Honour made her first appearance on 10 December 2021. Honour was introduced as Warren Fox's (Jamie Lomas) prison psychologist and later revealed to be part of a new Hollyoaks family, which included Honour's husband and their children. The family was later expanded by the introduction of Honour's niece, Shing Lin Leong (Izzie Yip). Chok was very grateful to be given the role, feeling that she had hit the bamboo ceiling, and felt proud in being part of the first East Asian family in a soap opera and was happy to represent East Asians on screen, although she felt a bit of pressure. Chok was able to help slightly impact the development of the character and was also able to influence the set of Honour's home by adding a rice cooker and making it a no-shoe house. Honour's initial storylines included her work with Warren and her relationship with Dave and their family, as well as trying to fit in into the community. A 2022 episode sees Honour and her family celebrate Lunar New Year, with Hollyoaks being the first soap opera to celebrate it. The character was given a short issue-based storyline when Honour and her daughter, Serena Chen-Williams (Emma Lau), experience Sinophobia, which Chok and other cast members praised for highlighting xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Honour then gives the other residents free therapy sessions in order to make friend and Chok praising the soap for highlighting mental health issues through this storyline. Honour's other storylines include finding out that her marriage to Dave is invalid due to Dave still being married to his former wife, conflicts with her family, dealing with her son Mason Chen-Williams' (Frank Kauer) involvement in an incel chatroom, being fired from her job, the breakdown of her relationship with Dave and kissing Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard). Honour later made an unannounced exit from the role, with Honour last appearing on 14 April 2023, when she left for a job in London, becoming the second member of the family to leave the soap. Honour and her family were initially well received and longlisted for "Best family" at the 2023 Inside Soap Awards. Honour's Lunar New Year and Sinophobia storylines also received praise. However, by the time of her departure, the character was criticised for being underused, though her departure was considered emotional by critics.
Creation and casting In November 2021, Hollyoaks released a winter trailer which revealed that Honour, Warren Fox's (Jamie Lomas) prison psychiatrist, would be one of five new characters to move into Hollyoaks, the fictional village of the soap opera. The trailer also revealed that Honour's stepdaughter, Lizzie Chen-Williams (Lily Best), Honour's brother in law Ethan Williams (Matthew James-Bailey) and his girlfriend, Maya Harkwell (Ky Discala), and Honour's daughter Serena Chen-Williams (Emma Lau) would also be moving into the village, although it was not yet revealed that these characters were all part of the same family. Later that month, it was confirmed that Honour would be played by Vera Chok, who Justin Harp from Digital Spy described as a "veteran actress". Harp revealed that Honour would be "working overtime to get inside Warren's head" and would eventually "succeed" in getting a "shocking confession" from him, although teased that it was unclear whether Honour's "allegiances" would be with Warren or someone else. Chok described joining Hollyoaks as a "dream come true!", commenting "As a Malaysian-Chinese first generation immigrant in the UK, the opportunity to play Honour – a fully rounded person with passions, quirks, and flaws – is an amazing milestone for me and also British TV". Chok explained that she had "hit the ground running" by filming "high drama" with Lomas, who she called an "absolute sweetheart". Chok also revealed that, much to her "delight", there had been "a gallon laughter, love and heart-warming joy" scenes with other cast members, but could not comment further on that. Chok was grateful for the role as she had been "manifesting" playing a comedic character in a long-running series earlier on in 2021, and called Honour her "dream role" that she felt that been written for her. Chok also revealed in an interview in early 2022 that she was enjoying being part of the Lime Pictures "family" due to everyone being so "nice". Honour's first appearance aired on Channel 4 on 10 December 2021. Chok felt that it was "amazing" to be cast in a soap opera after doing a variety of other projects, saying that she felt that she had "hit" the "bamboo ceiling" in her career and was grateful at being able to learn, calling the opportunity "incredible" and saying "I get to learn how TV is made and how to act in this particular style", which she hoped to bring it into her future projects.
Honour was later revealed to be part of the new "blended" Chen-Williams family, which also consisted of Honour's husband Dave (Dominic Power), their son Mason (Frank Kauer), their adoptive daughter Lizzie, Honour's daughter Serena, Dave's son Sam (Matthew McGivern) and Dave's half-brother Ethan, as well as Ethan's girlfriend Maya. Most of the characters had been already introduced in seemingly unconnected storylines. They were described as a "close-knit clan" whose first scenes as a family involved them celebrating Christmas together at The Dog in the Pond. Stephen Patterson from Metro wrote that it was "safe to say" that the family would "make their mark on the eponymous village!" Dominic Knight from ATV Today noted that the family were taking the village "by storm". Before the cast members of the family began filming, they had a "workshop day" where they got to know each other and spoke about what they thought their characters were like and what they wanted, as well as doing some improv with the writers so that they could see how the cast members talk and move together. Chok noted that this does not often happen in the TV industry and revealed that, in addition to having input into the family's development, she was able to ask about her upcoming storylines. Since the cast are given their scripts sent ahead, Chok was able to raise any questions about both cultural and non-cultural related queries.
Characterisation
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