PAULA LANE’S
She famously spent six years on Corrie’s cobbles as fiery Kylie Platt but actress Paula Lane says her first-ever audition was for a part in rival soap Emmerdale.
Paula was 22 when she tried out for the role of Gennie Dingle but has now finally landed a Dales role aged 37.
Paula, who grew up in Yorkshire, not far from the Emmerdale studios, is playing newcomer Ella Forster.
She says: “It feels like it was meant to be. It has come full circle.”
She adds of that first audition: “I was still at drama school at the time – I hadn’t even finished my training – and I wrote a letter to them.
“I said I was from Yorkshire, that I was training as an actor and that I loved the show and would love to work there.
“I auditioned to play Gennie and, unfortunately, didn’t get the part, but then later I went up for a few more roles.
“I was up for Holly Barton – I got down to the last four – and I then auditioned for another part as a lawyer.”
The role of Gennie went to actress Sian Reese-williams, and Sophie Powles was taken on as Holly Barton.
Paula, meanwhile, had guest parts in Heartbeat, The Royal and Doctors before being cast as Becky Mcdonald’s tearaway half-sister Kylie in Coronation Street in 2010. She left the show in 2016 and has spent most of the past eight years working in theatre.
But she refused to give up on her Emmerdale dream and last year, when she was on stage in the JM Barrie play Quality Street, she invited the ITV soap’s casting team to the show.
“The play was so different to anything anybody has ever seen me do,” she says.
“I never left the stage and I went through every single emotion with the character, so it was a great showcase.
“Afterwards, they got in touch to say they wanted to meet me for the part of Ella. I was extremely flattered.
“Now, when I’m there filming in the village, I think ‘oh my gosh, this is just the right fit for me’.”
Paula’s character made her debut in January at a ball attended by Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) and Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). When her boss made rude remarks about Mandy’s outfit, she poured a drink over him, gaining a firm friend in Mandy but losing her job at the same time.
She went on to land a job at the village doctor’s surgery but now finds herself caught up in a love triangle with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), for the heart of dashing doctor Liam Cavanagh (Jonny Mcpherson).
With Chas and Liam finally on the verge of telling each other how they really feel, Ella ends up kissing him first.
When she suggests they officially become a couple, Liam is powerless to resist – even though he would secretly rather be with Chas.
Paula says: “In Ella’s defence, she has been getting a lot of attention from Liam but obviously he still has strong feelings for Chas. This is the problem.
“He can’t quite pick who he wants, so she has just got caught up in that.”
Meanwhile, Paula promises a big storyline later this year, exploring Ella’s
It means I never take anything for granted PAULA LANE ON LACK OF MONEY AS A CHILD
Paula and husband Tom see in 2009 past. “I’m not allowed to say too much,” Paula says.
“But it will give the audience a good insight into her, because she’s a bit of a mystery at the moment.” Paula, who grew up in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, recalls how her parents separated when she was four. Mum Anne worked hard to make ends meet while raising her and older sister Nicola.
She says: “I never went to an acting class as a child and we couldn’t afford dance lessons. I had to do all that much later on. But it means that I never take