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Emmerdale star addresses backlash over Kerry

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

From Digital Spy

Emmerdale star Laura Norton has admitted that Kerry Wyatt's cover-up storyline has been difficult to play.

Kerry has faced a backlash from soap fans this month after her role in causing the tragic factory fire and unfairly blaming Frank Clayton, who died in the blaze.

Viewers know that Kerry's main aim is to keep herself and her daughter Amy out of prison, but things are about to get a whole lot more complicated as Amy confides in her boyfriend Nate Robinson about their guilt.

Speaking about the ongoing storyline, Laura explained: "As an actress, I'm loving doing something really gritty. I have to be honest, I've found this one of the hardest things to play since I've been here.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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"It's really hard to play the guilt, without being really on the nose. I've had chats with directors about what happens when you're lying. In real life, if someone tends to lie and fib, they do it convincingly so people don't know.

"But at the same time, you're trying to show an audience that Kerry is living with guilt, she doesn't feel good, and she's not finding it easy lying. In real life, that isn't what you would show, so I've found it really hard to play.

"I've done a lot of extra homework, trying to find the nuances. As a challenge, that's been amazing, because on what other job would you get to explore such a variety of emotions? It has been amazing, but I've found it really hard.

"I watched Big Little Lies and it's all about this group of women who were living with a lie and the guilt. It was amazing watching the different angles of how these women were playing what they were going through, and trying to choose elements of that."

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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Laura also discussed the hostile fan reaction to Kerry's actions, hinting that she could still turn things around in the future.

Asked if the viewer response to Kerry has changed, Laura replied: "It has definitely. I know that happens – you can have a storyline where people are completely on side, then two weeks later, your character is behaving in such a way that people don't like.

"But this has been huge. People haven't been on board with Kerry's decision-making and rightly so. It's my job to give the writing the justice it deserves, because these are stories that do happen.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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"People do make these decisions and you're representing real people, so it's about trying to find as much truth as humanly possible in it.

"You just hope that people can see that Kerry is flawed but doing things for the right reasons, however warped that may be. There'd be something wrong if people were enjoying what she's doing.

"It's nice to see it getting a big reaction, as that's what we wanted. The ripples have affected so many people in the village. And it's good because there's somewhere for Kerry to go now. She's got to redeem herself now, and hopefully people will be able to see that she isn't all bad."

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.


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Digital Spy Soap Scoop video – hit play below for all the latest Emmerdale spoilers, as Robert appears in court and Kerry catches out Nate and Moira.

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