Perdita
24-03-2010, 14:12
Aaron Livesy's story reaches an emotional peak during tomorrow evening's second tearjerker episode of Emmerdale when he's brought face to face with what and who he is.
In one of Emmerdale's best episodes of recent years, the sexually confused teen, played by 19-year-old Danny Miller, is backed into a corner by his surrogate father Paddy and forced to admit - albeit reluctantly - that he's gay.
But not before beating Paddy to a pulp.
I recently gave Danny a call during a filming break to chat about what it was like shooting the emotional scenes, how the savage beating comes about and how he managed so many tears.
How does the incident come about?
"Basically, Paddy drops Aaron off at the gay bar without knowing and waits for him. He spots Jackson giving Aaron a business card in a seemingly underhand way, which triggers Paddy to think that it's drugs. Paddy questions him about what was going on and Aaron doesn't respond well to the accusations. Eventually, Paddy looks up the bar on the internet and realises that it's a gay bar. Paddy keeps heckling and going on about it until Aaron snaps and beats him to a pulp."
What was it like to film the scenes?
"It was two days of me crying! It's really emotional material and I've not had to do anything like this before. It was really intense to film."
Did you have to have the attack choreographed?
"We had a stunt co-ordinator who came in and choreographed the scene in the safest way. Dom and I had our own ideas about how we wanted the scene to play out and the guy was kindly interested in [them]. I banged my elbow quite hard on the table actually - it's still hurting now!"
What were you thinking about to get your head in such a dark place?
"You have to think of the worst possible thought, which is quite daunting really. It's all about thinking of thoughts you wouldn't ever want to think of but you know you have to in order to cry. Even though they're dark thoughts, it helps so much with the tears. Then the words around the action helped, too, because it flowed so well. Jane Pearson wrote the episode - it's such a fantastic script and it blew me away. I was in tears just reading it."
Where did you find all the tears?
"There was just one of the final scenes where I had to use tear stick - aside from that, we did really well getting away without using it!"
What's it been like working with Dominic?
"It's been amazing. He's so, so supportive and very professional. He's great at what he does - such a talented actor."
What did you think when you watched the episode back?
"It's very well shot and directed. It's very clever the way it's been done and I really enjoyed watching it back. There are the off things as an actor where you think about your own performance, but that aside, it's an amazing episode and was very rewarding to see it back."
Where does Aaron's journey go from here?
"Afterwards, Aaron starts to come to terms with the fact that he's gay. It's very secretive, though. All I'll say is that there's so much more to come. It's an amazing story and every step along the way, you know exactly where Aaron's at. It shows you what he's going through and it's a chance for the audience to see Aaron for who he really is. It gives you a reason to understand why Aaron is the way he is. There's loads more drama and plenty of tears to come - and a massive twist…"
What's the reaction been like?
"I've had a lot of people saying that they really feel for Aaron and that's one of the most rewarding things. I had a fan letter about two weeks ago saying that we're telling the story very well as it's exactly what he went though. For me, it's amazing to know that somebody who's been through what Aaron's going through thinks we're doing a good job."
In one of Emmerdale's best episodes of recent years, the sexually confused teen, played by 19-year-old Danny Miller, is backed into a corner by his surrogate father Paddy and forced to admit - albeit reluctantly - that he's gay.
But not before beating Paddy to a pulp.
I recently gave Danny a call during a filming break to chat about what it was like shooting the emotional scenes, how the savage beating comes about and how he managed so many tears.
How does the incident come about?
"Basically, Paddy drops Aaron off at the gay bar without knowing and waits for him. He spots Jackson giving Aaron a business card in a seemingly underhand way, which triggers Paddy to think that it's drugs. Paddy questions him about what was going on and Aaron doesn't respond well to the accusations. Eventually, Paddy looks up the bar on the internet and realises that it's a gay bar. Paddy keeps heckling and going on about it until Aaron snaps and beats him to a pulp."
What was it like to film the scenes?
"It was two days of me crying! It's really emotional material and I've not had to do anything like this before. It was really intense to film."
Did you have to have the attack choreographed?
"We had a stunt co-ordinator who came in and choreographed the scene in the safest way. Dom and I had our own ideas about how we wanted the scene to play out and the guy was kindly interested in [them]. I banged my elbow quite hard on the table actually - it's still hurting now!"
What were you thinking about to get your head in such a dark place?
"You have to think of the worst possible thought, which is quite daunting really. It's all about thinking of thoughts you wouldn't ever want to think of but you know you have to in order to cry. Even though they're dark thoughts, it helps so much with the tears. Then the words around the action helped, too, because it flowed so well. Jane Pearson wrote the episode - it's such a fantastic script and it blew me away. I was in tears just reading it."
Where did you find all the tears?
"There was just one of the final scenes where I had to use tear stick - aside from that, we did really well getting away without using it!"
What's it been like working with Dominic?
"It's been amazing. He's so, so supportive and very professional. He's great at what he does - such a talented actor."
What did you think when you watched the episode back?
"It's very well shot and directed. It's very clever the way it's been done and I really enjoyed watching it back. There are the off things as an actor where you think about your own performance, but that aside, it's an amazing episode and was very rewarding to see it back."
Where does Aaron's journey go from here?
"Afterwards, Aaron starts to come to terms with the fact that he's gay. It's very secretive, though. All I'll say is that there's so much more to come. It's an amazing story and every step along the way, you know exactly where Aaron's at. It shows you what he's going through and it's a chance for the audience to see Aaron for who he really is. It gives you a reason to understand why Aaron is the way he is. There's loads more drama and plenty of tears to come - and a massive twist…"
What's the reaction been like?
"I've had a lot of people saying that they really feel for Aaron and that's one of the most rewarding things. I had a fan letter about two weeks ago saying that we're telling the story very well as it's exactly what he went though. For me, it's amazing to know that somebody who's been through what Aaron's going through thinks we're doing a good job."