Louise Taylor (Hollyoaks)

More than five thousand people auditioned for parts in the original Hollyoaks cast in early 1995. Dublin born actress Brett O'Brien was cast as Louise. She learned about the auditions for Hollyoaks from her friend, decided to apply and received an audition. O'Brien recalled to a Liverpool Echo writer that "they did audition me, time and time and time again." Actress Julie Buckfield also read for the part of Louise in her original audition. Buckfield progressed to further auditions but was chosen to play fellow original character Julie Matthews instead. O'Brien found the audition process difficult because it was long-winded. She told Catherine Murphy from The Herald that "the auditions were quite awful" because of the numerous call-backs and the final audition, which she revealed did last forty-eight hours. She likened to process to a "cattle market" because Hollyoaks producers "saw all kinds of different people." Ahead of her debut, O'Brien told Fiona Shepherd from The Scotsman that show would not be preachy. She explained "it's not preaching that it's better to be rich or that it's better to be poor. It's just a bunch of kids having a laugh." ==Development==

Louise is introduced as one of the show's seven core characters also consisting of Maddie Parker (Yasmin Bannerman), Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay), Dawn Cunningham (Lisa Williamson) and the male collective of Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards), Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) and Jambo Bolton (Will Mellor). The series focus' on the seven characters' lives after they have finished their GCSE studies and are "starting out in the world". Redmond summarised the show's narrative as being "it's about the two biggest issues in life - who I am and where I am going." Upon her introduction, "loyal Louise" is taking college courses in theatre studies and English. She also attends the same college as Natasha. Writers also developed a female friendship group between Louise, Natasha, Maddie and Dawn. O'Brien told a Liverpool Echo reporter that she was "not like" Louise apart from them both being Irish. Louise's stories in the first two episodes of Hollyoaks were previewed prior to transmission. It was revealed that she would be established as a "party girl" character who gets into trouble and is saved by Kurt. In the following episode Natasha later believes that Louise could be suicidal. Louise had previously been dating Joe (Guy Parry), who cheated on her at her seventeenth birthday party. Natasha and Dawn soon realised Louise was not suicidal but rather "heartbroken" over Joe. They then presume she might be pregnant. Writers developed a relationship storyline between Louise and Kurt. The duo become closer after her split with Joe but they too break-up after Louise refuses to have sex with him. O'Brien left the role in 1996 after only eight months in the role and Louise's departure storyline featured her moving away with a traveller. Louise struggles to comprehend Natasha's death and even claims to have seen her ghost. After meeting the traveller named Tree, she begins "falling for" him and decides to leave with him. Her departure made Louise the second most short-lived of the original characters after Natasha who was killed off two months prior. After O'Brien left the series she eventually went backpacking. She told an All About Soap reporter that "it wasn't quite running away with a new-age traveller like Louise did when she left Hollyoaks, but maybe she planted the idea in my head." ==Reception==

In December 1995, Peter Grant from Liverpool Echo predicted that the popularity of the show's "magnificent seven" core characters would continue to rise in 1996. Grant noted there was "plenty more fun in store" and a "very happy new year in Hollyoaks" judging by storylines such as "Louise plunges into the world of amateur dramatics." In 2005, Grant described Louise as "the most enigmatic of the debut seven" core characters. Grant continued that Louise is "a hopeless romantic in search of the perfect man" and a "gypsy-like earth mother". He concluded that she was portrayed with "a strong interest in the supernatural and lived her life by sticking to what the horoscopes said." In 2021, Sophie McCoid and Lucy Marshall from the publication branded her a "kooky character" and "earth mother type". They added that Louise "lived in hope of finding the perfect man and paid a little too much attention to her horoscopes." Greg Taylor from Daily Mirror branded the core seven characters a group of "smart teenagers" that the show "revolves around". Kyle O'Sullivan, also from Daily Mirror called her a "kooky character" and a "hopeless romantic" who had a "troubled relationship with cheating and rough boyfriend Joe". Manchester Evening News Dominic Moffitt believed Louise's role in the show was to provide "the show's comic relief for a time." They also called her "a hippie" and "free loving type character" who "enjoyed a very short life on Hollyoaks." Tina Miles of Cheshire Live labelled Louise a "kooky character". Alina Polianskaya from the i newspaper stated "her character was into horoscopes and mystical ideas." Nick Chalmers from Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph wrote "Louise is nuts on anything a bit spooooky! She's at the same college as Natasha and a loyal, trustworthy friend too - what a poppet!" Stephanie Colderick writing for Wales Online stated Louise "loved her horoscopes" and was portrayed as a "more free-spirited character" than her fellow original counterparts. An E4.com writer called her one of the "first generation of Hollyoaks starlets" and one of the "original Hollyoaks gang". A writer from The Courier observed the female friendship group and decided that Natasha and Dawn "often have to cringe at the antics of fashion fanatic Maddie" and "to wonder at their supernatural obsessed friend Louise." Of her departure episode, a Sutton Coldfield Observer critic assessed that the character is "behaving in a fashion that is increasingly disturbing." Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy stated that Louise had a "short shelf life" and that she received "a rather kooky exit storyline". He assessed that "the stars appeared to align for her when she fell for a New Age traveller called Tree." Francesca Babb from All About Soap believed that O'Brien "was great" in the role of Louise and subsequently was surprised the actress did not rise to prominence after she left the show. Joe Steeples from Sunday Mirror criticised Hollyoaks writing, storylines and the cast's acting abilities. He carped on about a scene featuring Louise and Natasha discussing her sex life. Louise states "We were compatible birth signs and everything. That's why I gave myself to him." Steeples branded the writing "pure Mills & Boon" and quipped that the executive producer, Redmond had been taking tablets that transformed him into the romance writer Barbara Cartland. Lucy Ellman of The Independent lambasted the role of the show's original female characters. She branded them "highly suspect" and were "given little to say, and spend their time worrying needlessly about each other." She added that they all entertain themselves "with bodings of disaster." Critiquing Louise's original story, Ellman bemoaned the scenes featuring Natasha assuming Louise would commit suicide because she had sex with a "two-timing louse" on the basis her star-sign advised her to. She further ridiculed Natasha's later concern Louise could be pregnant. Their colleague, Cole Morton minimised the importance of the original characters because they were written as "glamorous young things who live in leafy suburbs rather than urban mean streets, and have only to worry about their spots and mobile phones." ==References==