Perdita
26-01-2010, 07:09
Emmerdale's Natasha Wylde - played by 47-year-old Amanda Donohoe - hit breaking point earlier this month when she turned a double-barrelled shotgun on her bigamist husband Mark and pulled the trigger at point-blank range. Having buried Mark in the grounds of Home Farm, Natasha's determined that her troubles will remain secret - but with Faye, Nathan and the emergence of a corpse to contend with, panic sets in. How will Natasha cope when the police turn up on her doorstep? Will she keep her cool under pressure? And will she ever confess? We gave Amanda a call to find out.
When did you learn that Natasha was the killer?
"It was actually quite near to filming. It was a bit of a shock to be honest - we knew Mark was going to die but none of us knew what the storyline was going to be until the scripts hit the floor. When I read it, I was like, 'Oh my God! I've killed my husband!'"
Were you surprised that Natasha killed Mark?
"I was very conscious to ensure it didn't turn into a premeditated thing, in the sense that Natasha didn't go out into the woods with the intention to kill him. It just snowballed into a madness and she pulled the trigger. Now, she's done this terrible thing and she's shocked at herself for doing it. It's so much fun from here, though - how does Natasha deal with it? That wonderful psychological journey leading up to the reveal."
Had you ever held a gun before?
"Yes, I'm quite an accomplished shot! I learned to shoot when I lived in California and it was for a specific role as a bounty hunter. I had to wield a few weapons."
How has Mark's murder affected Natasha?
"I think she's still in a state of shock. She doesn't quite know where to go next. She's struggling to maintain a front so the children - and certainly the youngest Will - don't freak out. It's becoming increasingly strained for her and Nathan ends up disobeying her when she insists that nobody walks across the Home Farm grounds. This is where the problems start…"
How does Natasha react when the police turn up on her doorstep saying that they've found a body?
"Well they say they've found a body but they don't say where. It comes as a huge shock for her, yet she knows it can't be Mark because the body's still in the woods in the Home Farm grounds - and she'd have been informed if the police wanted to search her private property."
She's in quite a safe position really, isn't she? The body's buried on private property, so unless she draws attention to it…
"Exactly. She's terrified, though! It's like a bad nightmare where you've killed someone and you're trying to hide the body and desperately terrified abut being discovered. There's this permanent feeling of, 'Oh my God - any minute now, someone's going to realise'. She won't get complacent, though - all her senses are at full whack. She's on a knife edge at the moment."
In a strange way, it bonds Natasha and Faye…
"I don't think Natasha bonds them as such, but I know what you mean! Faye's the last person she'd want to bond with! Natasha's keeping her sweet - she knows that the first person she has to be nice to is Faye. There's no intention to become mates with her but she has to maintain the façade. Natasha could possibly forgive her, but she'll never forget."
Where does it all go from here?
"Well, Natasha actually confesses to one person who becomes very, very difficult - and it actually sees them disappearing from the village for a while…"
How are you enjoying Emmerdale at the moment?
"I love my work - it's what I know how to do best. It's a genre I've never worked in before and it's extraordinary because it's so intense and fast that it really makes you hone your craft. You have to know what you're doing and deliver."
How long are you sticking around for?
"I'll be staying around at least until the end of the year - after that, we'll see what happens…"
'Emmerdale's Natasha on murder, Maxwell and Maisie
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 06:00 GMT
By Kris Green, Soaps Editor
Last week, I gave Bad Girls-turned-Emmerdale star Amanda Donohoe a call during one of her filming breaks to chat about what's to come for her murderous character Natasha.
After shooting Mark and burying him in the grounds of Home Farm, Natasha's a woman on a mission (as if she wasn't already!) to keep her actions under wraps. But with Faye determined to find Mark, Nathan becoming curious about his father's whereabouts and Maisie cracking up, it's far from an easy ride.
Click here to read more from Amanda about next week's storyline developments - which sees a corpse recovered - or read on to see what Amanda has to say about Natasha's deadly ways and whether she's capable of framing somebody for murder...
Knowing Natasha, did you ever think she could kill?
"I mentioned this to the producers - I said that if they wanted her to kill, they'd have to give her a bloody good reason to! And they gave me a very, very good reason! Natasha was pushed in many ways and when you found out that your life's a lie and everything you thought was safe isn't - that does very strange things to the mind."
What's it like without Maxwell now?
"The funny thing is that when Faye came in, they had to establish the Mark/Faye relationship well enough for it to play out. If Natasha was around too much, it'd have made her look daft and so I had to get out of the picture a bit! At that point, I didn't have so much to do with him. It just petered out towards the end, which was strange as we'd stopped developing the relationship. It came to an abrupt end and I was saying goodbye to him!"
Maisie's on the downward spiral - how does Natasha cope with her daughter's breakdown?
"Alice has been fantastic! I always knew she was a talented actress but thought she was wasted behind The Woolpack bar and they finally have her some real good material to get her teeth into and she absolutely delivered. As for Natasha and Maisie, Natasha doesn't understand how Maisie felt and it takes a while for her to understand that Mark's 'disappearance' has messed her daughter's head up."
Does Natasha feel any guilt over the repercussions of her actions and the affect it's having on her family?
"I think she realises that she's made a big, big mistake - but now she has to deal with the consequences. She's taking each day as it comes."
If she could go back to that moment again, would she have pulled the trigger?
"If you'd done something terrible and reflected on it afterwards, you'd question why you did it and question why you said what you said. This is what I love about the idea of truth and lies - as soon as you leave the truth, you're on a handcart to hell. Natasha can't stop it - it's going too fast and she can't get off. She's at the mercy of everyone around her…"
Do you think Natasha's capable of framing someone for the murder?
"Before the murder, Natasha was a straightforward woman who never lied - she never needed to deal with lies. Now she's in a very different place - she has to make her way through it all, but there's not much light at the end of the tunnel. At this point, the wonderful thing about the story is that with somebody under such immense pressure, who knows what they'll do..."
DS
When did you learn that Natasha was the killer?
"It was actually quite near to filming. It was a bit of a shock to be honest - we knew Mark was going to die but none of us knew what the storyline was going to be until the scripts hit the floor. When I read it, I was like, 'Oh my God! I've killed my husband!'"
Were you surprised that Natasha killed Mark?
"I was very conscious to ensure it didn't turn into a premeditated thing, in the sense that Natasha didn't go out into the woods with the intention to kill him. It just snowballed into a madness and she pulled the trigger. Now, she's done this terrible thing and she's shocked at herself for doing it. It's so much fun from here, though - how does Natasha deal with it? That wonderful psychological journey leading up to the reveal."
Had you ever held a gun before?
"Yes, I'm quite an accomplished shot! I learned to shoot when I lived in California and it was for a specific role as a bounty hunter. I had to wield a few weapons."
How has Mark's murder affected Natasha?
"I think she's still in a state of shock. She doesn't quite know where to go next. She's struggling to maintain a front so the children - and certainly the youngest Will - don't freak out. It's becoming increasingly strained for her and Nathan ends up disobeying her when she insists that nobody walks across the Home Farm grounds. This is where the problems start…"
How does Natasha react when the police turn up on her doorstep saying that they've found a body?
"Well they say they've found a body but they don't say where. It comes as a huge shock for her, yet she knows it can't be Mark because the body's still in the woods in the Home Farm grounds - and she'd have been informed if the police wanted to search her private property."
She's in quite a safe position really, isn't she? The body's buried on private property, so unless she draws attention to it…
"Exactly. She's terrified, though! It's like a bad nightmare where you've killed someone and you're trying to hide the body and desperately terrified abut being discovered. There's this permanent feeling of, 'Oh my God - any minute now, someone's going to realise'. She won't get complacent, though - all her senses are at full whack. She's on a knife edge at the moment."
In a strange way, it bonds Natasha and Faye…
"I don't think Natasha bonds them as such, but I know what you mean! Faye's the last person she'd want to bond with! Natasha's keeping her sweet - she knows that the first person she has to be nice to is Faye. There's no intention to become mates with her but she has to maintain the façade. Natasha could possibly forgive her, but she'll never forget."
Where does it all go from here?
"Well, Natasha actually confesses to one person who becomes very, very difficult - and it actually sees them disappearing from the village for a while…"
How are you enjoying Emmerdale at the moment?
"I love my work - it's what I know how to do best. It's a genre I've never worked in before and it's extraordinary because it's so intense and fast that it really makes you hone your craft. You have to know what you're doing and deliver."
How long are you sticking around for?
"I'll be staying around at least until the end of the year - after that, we'll see what happens…"
'Emmerdale's Natasha on murder, Maxwell and Maisie
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 06:00 GMT
By Kris Green, Soaps Editor
Last week, I gave Bad Girls-turned-Emmerdale star Amanda Donohoe a call during one of her filming breaks to chat about what's to come for her murderous character Natasha.
After shooting Mark and burying him in the grounds of Home Farm, Natasha's a woman on a mission (as if she wasn't already!) to keep her actions under wraps. But with Faye determined to find Mark, Nathan becoming curious about his father's whereabouts and Maisie cracking up, it's far from an easy ride.
Click here to read more from Amanda about next week's storyline developments - which sees a corpse recovered - or read on to see what Amanda has to say about Natasha's deadly ways and whether she's capable of framing somebody for murder...
Knowing Natasha, did you ever think she could kill?
"I mentioned this to the producers - I said that if they wanted her to kill, they'd have to give her a bloody good reason to! And they gave me a very, very good reason! Natasha was pushed in many ways and when you found out that your life's a lie and everything you thought was safe isn't - that does very strange things to the mind."
What's it like without Maxwell now?
"The funny thing is that when Faye came in, they had to establish the Mark/Faye relationship well enough for it to play out. If Natasha was around too much, it'd have made her look daft and so I had to get out of the picture a bit! At that point, I didn't have so much to do with him. It just petered out towards the end, which was strange as we'd stopped developing the relationship. It came to an abrupt end and I was saying goodbye to him!"
Maisie's on the downward spiral - how does Natasha cope with her daughter's breakdown?
"Alice has been fantastic! I always knew she was a talented actress but thought she was wasted behind The Woolpack bar and they finally have her some real good material to get her teeth into and she absolutely delivered. As for Natasha and Maisie, Natasha doesn't understand how Maisie felt and it takes a while for her to understand that Mark's 'disappearance' has messed her daughter's head up."
Does Natasha feel any guilt over the repercussions of her actions and the affect it's having on her family?
"I think she realises that she's made a big, big mistake - but now she has to deal with the consequences. She's taking each day as it comes."
If she could go back to that moment again, would she have pulled the trigger?
"If you'd done something terrible and reflected on it afterwards, you'd question why you did it and question why you said what you said. This is what I love about the idea of truth and lies - as soon as you leave the truth, you're on a handcart to hell. Natasha can't stop it - it's going too fast and she can't get off. She's at the mercy of everyone around her…"
Do you think Natasha's capable of framing someone for the murder?
"Before the murder, Natasha was a straightforward woman who never lied - she never needed to deal with lies. Now she's in a very different place - she has to make her way through it all, but there's not much light at the end of the tunnel. At this point, the wonderful thing about the story is that with somebody under such immense pressure, who knows what they'll do..."
DS