Manpreet feels that Tariq didn’t expect things to go as far as they have with Yasmin lying in hospital critically ill and his relationship with his cousin strained. “When he started seeing the patient it didn’t seem out of character for him, but it did seem rather reckless because obviously it goes against all guidelines.
“Speaking to Yasmin he just thought even though something similar like this happened in Australia he thought he could navigate this differently and I think it just got out of control for him. I feel like Yasmin had her claws in Tariq more than he thought she did and I just think he kind of got lost in that,” he explained.
While Manpreet may be able to justify Tariq’s behaviour with Yasmin, his attitude towards Rash is likely to shock viewers the most. He throws his cousin’s past suicide attempt in his face and uses the fact he found him and saved his life against him.
“I think the initial thought with dragging Rash in is just he’s in self-preservation mode. It’s purely survival – he needs to get out of this, and he can only rely on someone that he trusts. I don’t even think he thinks about it that deeply,” Manpereet admits.
“With regards to, ‘Oh my God, Rash has gone through so much trauma, I better not ask him’, he’s thinking purely about himself in that situation. He’s thinking, ‘I need to get out of this. Who can I call on?’ And obviously he relies on his his cousin, so I don’t think he even thought that far ahead.
Tariq Hussein has dragged his cousin Rash Masum into his mess in Casualty (Image: BBC)
“As things start to develop later on, where there’s a guilt trip happening with Tariq I think that’s when he pushes back, because it’s almost like what he did [saving Rash] was ignored. But I don’t think him initially asking Rash for a helping hand was from a place of, ‘well, I did this for you so you owe me’. I think it was just like pure self preservation,” Manpreet reflects.
Although he defends his character’s actions he admits that this new element of Tariq came as a surprise to him also. “The way that he’s been written up until that point, and the way that I’ve been playing him, I never thought he’d have that side to him. And then I had to figure out a way to for it to all make sense. Thankfully, speaking to the producers and the directors and writers I got the full picture of where this has come from, and it all kind of made sense to me.
“Because there has to be something interesting with Tariq. I think there’s still going to be an element of mystique about him. Everything that you see or what you’ve seen, in my opinion, it came out of the blue, but I didn’t think the character was capable of that, so it was quite nice to see that.
“But even still, I really don’t think Tariq is a bad person. I don’t think he ever does anything out of malice. I just think he gets too caught up in the moment and he doesn’t think about anything else but himself in that situation, and he does damage control. Then he starts to realise what he’s done, and he takes accountability for it.”