Emmerdale bosses didn’t tell me I’d be playing a child killer before I started filming, says soap legend Paula Lane
The star had no idea just how dark her character would get before the killer reveal
EMMERDALE star Paula Lane has revealed she wasn’t told her character was a child killer until a month into her stint on the show.
The actress – who plays Ella Forster in the ITV soap – is best known for playing tragic Kylie Platt in rival soap Corrie between 2010 and 2016.
So when she was announced as joining Emmerdale as the mysterious Ella, it soon became clear that the character was hiding a huge secret.
And while fans speculated, behind the scenes Paula herself had no idea what the truth was.
“When I took the part of Ella, I didn’t know that this storyline was going to be the storyline it is now,” she said.
“But any actor worth their salt will take something very gritty. And that’s going to give you full exposure and run with it.
“So I knew that it was in safe hands, I knew that they wanted to do a really great job with it. Combined with the writer, and the director, I just knew that they were going to make it something really magical.
“So initially, I think I was quite nervous to play it out. Because you just never know which way the audience is going to go.
“But ultimately, I just always look for the truth in it. And then hope that everything kind of follows on from there.”
She added: “It was a little bit after I’d started I don’t think we even had that on the cards when I filmed my entrance.
“So that probably got decided maybe about a month in but very cleverly, they can kind of make it they allow it to make sense, don’t they?
“You know, she flipped off the handle that one time because he pushed her and pushed her that the boss of the vets when she poured the pint over him.
“So I think we’ve been able to see hints of how she’s tried to hold it back. But then, of course, he’s just pushed her buttons.
“But that’s what’s great about her because you never quite know when something’s going to trigger. And that’s what’s fantastic about this because it can go any which way now.”
Viewers watched in horror as it was revealed in May how Ella had beaten her friend to death when she was just a child.
But she’s in good company in Emmerdale which has a host of child killers from Belle Dingle to Kyle Winchester.
“It’s a bit dark, isn’t it?” laughed Paula.
“I have to admit, when I was picking my kids up from school, you do kind of feel a bit ‘Oh, God, well, this is challenging stuff, because you’re working around children, you know, and I’ve kind of asked, ‘Was anything said today? Has anybody mentioned anything about Mummy?’”
However the fan reaction has been great, thankfully for Paula.
She said: “I’ve had a few messages actually, like via social media. All very positive on the acting front.
“But I think it is quite thought-provoking. You know, where you sit with it morally? Because obviously I’m a mother. If somebody did that to my child, I would find it enormously difficult to forgive.
“That’s what’s brilliant about this storyline is that it kind of does get you questioning it quite a lot.
“On the whole, I feel like people sort of believe that she served her time. That’s where the majority kind of sits from what I’ve seen.”