‘It was a big leap’ says Emmerdale star as nine-year-old son lands role in major film alongside Matt Smith
ONE of the stars of Emmerdale has confirmed that her nine-year-old son has landed a role in a major film.
Paula Lane, 38, joined the long-running ITV soap at the beginning of this year playing the role of Ella Forster.
The actress shot to fame after she played the role of Kylie Platt on Coronation Street.
She met her husband Tom at the tender age of 17 when they were both young aspiring actors.
Like his wife, he also had roles on both Coronation Street and Emmerdale, and it seems their talent has transferred to the next generation.
The duo share two children, Arthur, nine, and Penny, eight, who are both enrolled in the drama school they run together, the Lane Shaw Academy.
And she revealed that her eldest child has landed a role in a huge new horror movie, Starve Acre, that’s due to be released in September.
Arthur worked with A-list stars such as former Doctor Who and House Of The Dragon star, Matt Smith and the actress admitted that he enjoyed his time on set.
“It was a big leap for any child to be thrust onto a feature film set with these actors that were very, very famous,” she admitted.
“We will see where it goes, bless him, though he takes everything in his stride. He’s gone to his football camp today with his sister, and we try not to get too fixated on making that decision for him.
“I want him to really decide if acting is what he wants to do. And equally for our daughter Penny as well.”
She added: “Because if it’s just dipping their toes, then that’s absolutely fine as well. I don’t want them to feel too much pressure at this stage.”
Despite the pressures, Paula confirmed that she and her husband are both encouraging of the young tot to pursue the craft.
After they found out about this huge casting call in their local area, she was determined to prepare her son as acting was “in his blood”.
“Tom has been an actor from being 17 when I first met him, and that’s been our life together. Then obviously, we’ve had the children,” she explained.
“About two years ago, we got wind of this open casting call. They were after a Yorkshire boy aged between, I think, five and seven.
We just couldn’t believe it, we were in shock. Then the parent side of you kicks in and you say to yourself, ‘Oh, my God, do we actually want him to do this?’”
Paula Lane
“And it was in every café, every restaurant, everybody knew about it. So I just said, ‘Come on, let’s put him up for it.’ He has it in his blood, he’s a brilliant performer. His delivery is just fantastic.”
She added: “So he went up for it and then there was a recall, and then a final recall and he ended up getting the bloomin’ role!
“We just couldn’t believe it, we were in shock. Then the parent side of you kicks in and you say to yourself, ‘Oh, my God, do we actually want him to do this?’”
Meanwhile, Paula is embarking on her most emotional storyline yet as her character will soon have a silent miscarriage with devastating repercussions.
But the soap star wants to start conversations around the subject and is nothing but proud of her work.
“One in four pregnancies results in a miscarriage so to raise awareness is important,
“I wanted to do justice to it for women out there and for their partners as well because it does happen to people, and unfortunately not everyone does have their happy ending. It’s an awful situation to be in and I wanted to play that and do that justice.”
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Over the years the likes of EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street have all tried to try outdo each other with their outlandish plots in a bid to keep us tuning in each week. But here are some of the darkest that had fans in shock…