You Ask… Thomas Atkinson (aka Lachlan White)
THOMAS ATKINSON Emmerdale’s Lachlan White ...faces your questions!
Lachlan is a very troubled young man – but 18-year-old star Thomas couldn’t be further from his alter ego as he happily answers your searching questions… “Where is the strangest place you’ve ever been recognised?”
When I was on holiday in Spain. I was in a market, and an older lady came up to me and recognised me from the show. It’s not a particularly weird place, but I didn’t think that I’d be noticed in another country. Obviously I was wrong! She was English and on holiday with her family as well, and she just came over and was like,
“You’re that kid from
Emmerdale”. I’m kind of used to stuff like that now.
“Of Lachlan’s storylines, which has been the most challenging to film?”
It will probably always be the storyline with Alicia Metcalfe, when Lachlan sexually assaulted her. I was only 15 at the time, and it was my first major storyline on the show. Luckily I was filming with Natalie Anderson [Alicia], who is a great actress and made it all a lot easier, but still it was quite difficult. They threw me in at the deep end with that one – Lachlan wasn’t just sitting around a table eating cereal!
“What is the funniest moment you’ve ever had on set?”
When I first came into the show, Eden [Taylor-draper, who plays Belle] and I were filming a night shoot near her friend Gemma’s shrine. I was supposed to trash it, but I kicked something in the shrine and it f lew up and hit a cameraman in the face! Thankfully he was okay – it was quite funny at the time.
“Have you ever been star-struck yourself?”
I met Victoria Wood when I was doing a film about Morecambe and Wise called Eric & Ernie. I wouldn’t say I was star-struck, but I did find it strange seeing her in real life after seeing so many clips on Youtube with my mum and being a huge fan. It was good to see that she was just as nice in real life as she was on screen.
“Have you ever had a funny experience with one of Emmerdale’s animals while filming?”
I’m mostly on the Home Farm set, and we don’t have a lot of interaction with animals up there. Well, apart from me being dragged around by Copper, who plays our dog in the show. Actually, when Lachlan crashed his Porsche into the Dingle pigsty a few weeks back, Belle was supposed to be guiding the pigs back in – but all Eden did was tap them on the back, as she didn’t really know what to do. That was quite amusing!
“If you won the lottery, what would you spend the cash on?”
Apart from paying off family mortgages and buying myself a new house or something, I love skiing – so I’d like to have an oversized chalet somewhere in the Alps. That would be a dream!
“Who would you say is your best mate in the cast?”
I’d probably say Eden, and also filming with Shaun Thomas who plays Gerry has been quite fun as well. There aren’t many cast members my age, so with them being around and us having
similar interests, it’s been good.
“If you could do any other job for just one day, what would it be and why?”
When I was younger I always wanted to be a lawyer, so it’d be great to spend a day in court. But as I said, I like skiing. I recently went to St Anton in Austria with some friends, so to have a job over there as a ski instructor would be nice.
“Can you spill the beans on the Home Farm set? Like a behind-thescenes secret.”
We film the exterior bits at a big house in the middle of Yorkshire, but for the interior scenes we’re in the studio. None of the doors work at all – you close them and they spring back open, which is annoying while filming. And the sofas are easily the worst sofas anyone has ever sat on!
“What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?”
That would probably have been from my mum, convincing me to join Emmerdale. At first I was a little apprehensive as I was just about to start my last year at school, and I was worried that I’d fail all my GCSES and miss out on enjoying my final year. But my mum convinced me to take the job, and not let big chances like that go. It all worked out because I got all my GCSES, so I can’t complain! I definitely have no regrets there.