EMMERDALE’S
WOfcom received more than 200 complaints over the disturbing episode in February in which Ross had acid thrown at him. But show bosses worked with a victim of a similar attack plus the burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, to make sure they covered the topic sensitively.
Michael says he wanted to take on a challenging issue that a soap has never covered before. “It’s really important for us to tackle these storylines,” he says.
“Soap has that advantage over drama, people are really already invested in the characters.
“When it happens to somebody who you feel you really know, you get to see their full journey and learn what they are going through.
“It’s been new territory for all of us. One of the things I’ve struggled with is thinking that I don’t know if I am doing it right, having not been through it myself.” Emmerdale worked on the storyline with Andreas Christopheros, 32, who had acid thrown at him in a case of mistaken identity. The businessman, who is in and out of hospital, suffered severe facial burns and lost his eyelids when thug David Phillips hurled sulphuric acid at him at the home he shares with wife Pia in Truro, Cornwall, in 2014. Phillips, of Hastings, East Sussex, had wanted revenge for an assault but went to the wrong address. Andreas recalls: “The pain was inex- hen he walks into a room, people stare or quickly look away, trying to avoid the horrific burns all across his face. For Emmerdale star Michael Parr, 31, wearing the fake scars gives just a fleeting glimpse of what life must be like for an acid attack victim.
In one of the soap’s darkest and most challenging storylines, Michael’s character Ross Barton is the victim of such an assault, in a case of mistaken identity.
“Even when I’ve got my make-up on and I walk into the canteen, people who don’t work on the show stare at me,” Michael says.
“Either people are staring, which makes it really uncomfortable, or people are actively ignoring you and not making eye contact. And I’ve only got make-up on. It must be really hard for victims.”
The terrible reality of acid attacks was brought closer to home for the actor when a friend of his witnessed one in East London last year.
He says: “These two guys were in the car and they threw something out the window and drove off. A young lad was screaming, ‘My face my face’, and luckily my friend knew exactly what to do.
“She grabbed him, took him to a nearby Sainsbury’s and then started pouring water all over him.
“It was really bad, and traumatic for my friend to witness. His clothes were melting and there were people just standing around, filming it on their phones. That’s the culture we’re in now.”