User:Raintheone/Theo

Theo Sankofa is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Andrew Somerville. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 8 January 2001. Somerville made his finale appearance as Theo during the episode broadcast on 14 November 2002.

Casting
Somerville was cast as Theo after attending in the Hollyoaks: On the Pull auditions, a UK wide search a campaign to find new actors to appear in the show. The tour was created following the success of open auditions in Manchester. The auditions were chronicled for a documentary series about the process and were overseen by Hollyoaks producer Karl Dolan. Three other auditionees from the campaign were chosen, Marcus Patric (Ben Davies), Lesley Johnston (Laura Burns) and Elize du Toit (Izzy Cornwell). Their castings were announced in July 2000. More than forty thousand people auditioned and only four were chosen. The show's creator Phil Redmond believed his team only finding four candidates showed how "precarious a job acting can be". Somerville and Patric both attended the London auditions, where the turn out of hopefuls was high. Somerville later revealed that because of the high turn out he never met Patric during the first audition. Producers allowed everyone in attendance to audition but selected Somerville and Patric to attend further auditions in Liverpool. Patric began filming as Ben weeks later, while Somerville took on the role of Theo in the latter months of 2000. Dolan was happy with the success of the casting campaign, adding "the four main characters we have in the show as a result of On The Pull are testimony to its success." Dolan explained that despite outside perceptions, actors were chosen based on their ability to work well on camera and acting skill rather than aesthetics.

Somerville told a reporter from All About Soap that the experience was "all quite crazy" and there was "a party atmosphere" at the auditions. Somerville was eighteen when he was cast in the role and had just finished studying drama at a North London college. After he was cast, Somerville relocated to Liverpool to accommodate filming as Theo. Somerville had been offered two places at universities to study drama and film studies, which he declined in favour of playin Theo. He told Phil Penfold from The Stage that he made a "total prat" of himself during his initial weeks filming at Hollyoaks because of his lack of knowledge on the industry. He made his first appearance as Theo during the episode broadcast on 8 January 2001.

Development
Writers portrayed Theo as a "enigmatic" character. A writer from the official Hollyoaks website described Theo as "charismatic and quietly confident." They noted that Theo "always remained resolutely single" despite being "popular" in the village. Writers also portrayed Theo as business minded as he owns a gadget shop called Theologic and later opens a market stall. Somerville told a All About Soap reporter that Theo is "quite cool and laid back" and "smart". He added "Theo is very focused, with his own business, so he is quite an entrepreneur." Somerville wanted Theo to have "juicy storylines" and noted that upon his introduction, he is featured "in some quite funny" plots. Somerville told Penfold that Theo is a "bohemian surfer dude type".

Somerville decided to leave Hollyoaks in 2002 and asked producers to write Theo out of the series. They decided to kill the character off in a dramatic potholing storyline. Theo falls from the back of a van when it verges on a hill side. Theo hits his head on a rock during the fall which kills him. He told Penfold that Theo's exit was "spectacular" and believed his character had a lasting legacy within the show. He added "the funny thing is that a lot of the characters in the soap are still talking about him to this day - so his memory lives on." Somerville made his final appearance as Theo during the episode broadcast on 14 November 2002.

Reception
In the book, Phil Redmond's Hollyoaks: The Official Companion, author Matthew Evans stated that "it is now difficult to imagine the show without Izzy, Ben, Theo and Laura. They have matured as performers and have fast become four of the most central characters in the show."