“Kerryis trying to stay positive – but deep down, she’s really scared”
Emmerdale’s Laura Norton joins Inside Soap for a debrief on how Kerry and the Spencers are dealing with Amelia’s disappearance…
It’s really interesting that the Spencers have been chosen to do this storyline,” muses
Emmerdale star Laura Norton – aka Kerry – as we probe her on how she feels about being involved in such a distressing plot. “Playing the comedy stuff is brilliant, and it does suit our family. But people go through awful experiences, and that’s what makes the characters threedimensional. It’s very exciting to be able to show a different side to my character, something a bit darker.”
Things are about as dark as they can get for the Spencers at the moment – with Amelia still missing, and Dan suspecting that Daz has something to do with it! So is the clan on the verge of being torn apart completely? Not if Kerry can help it, says Laura…
How is Kerry dealing with Amelia being missing?
This girl has become like a daughter, so it’s the worst thing. Kerry is shocked, unsettled, and very disturbed. Her life has changed since Amelia went missing, and she’s upset. Also, deep down, she’s really frightened. Just the thought of this little person being out there in the big, wide world – obviously Kerry spent a lot of her youth on her own, so she knows how terrifying it can be. She’s trying hard to remain positive, but she’s actually really scared.
How is this situation affecting her relationship with Dan?
Like any traumatic event within a relationship, it puts a massive strain on things. They’re dealing with it differently – Dan is negative, and he’s looking for someone to blame. Yet Kerry can’t let herself go to that place – she refuses to accept that something bad might have happened to Amelia.
The police take Daz in for questioning this week (see p16) regarding Amelia’s disappearance. How does Kerry react to that?
She’s absolutely gutted. She feels responsible – she was the one who encouraged Daz back into their lives, so she desperately wants to believe that he had nothing to do with it. That’s too much to think about, her family would fall apart. But Daz is acting shifty, and Kerry is a very astute woman, so she can see something is not quite right.
How will Kerry cope if the worst does happen?
There’s only so much strength that somebody can have. It’s been exhausting for Kerry trying to hold the family together – she wants to make sure that Dan’s all right and not suspicious of Daz, and she’s trying to keep Daz and Bernice together. At some point, something has to give.
“It’s exhausting for Kerry to hold it together – something has to give”
This has been an amazing turning point for Kerry, because in times of tragedy she would normally fall apart and hit the bottle. So I think if the worst-case scenario did come about, that’s when we would see her self-destruct.
This has been the toughest ordeal the Spencers have ever been through, and there looks to be no ending to their misery this week. Thankfully, things couldn’t be more different off screen – as Laura tells us that this plot has brought her co-stars closer together…
What’s it been like to play out such intense scenes with the rest of the Spencer family?
It’s been amazing – we all get on so well. We spend a lot of time together outside of work. We do our homework together, we talk about the scenes, and feel free to give each other notes. We’ve worked together for so long that we can say things to each other without taking offence.
Liam Fox (Dan) has been your on-screen love interest for five years, and you’re in a real-life relationship with Mark Jordon, who plays Daz. But which of them is the naughtiest on set?
Mark! And I’m not just saying that because I know him on a different level. Liam is always in the zone, he never lets himself laugh too much during scenes. But Mark is clumsy – we call him Frank Spencer because he’s always knocking things over! There was a scene recently where the boys were having a fight, and as they went to leave the house, part of the set fell down on them both! Things like that happen on a regular basis.
You have fun on set, but how do you switch off from the emotional scenes when you get home?
It’s tough. There was a day recently where we had 15 scenes to do in the Spencer house, and they were all quite emotional. By the end of it, I couldn’t see straight! I usually go home and put on Netflix. Mark and I will watch something with a similar sort of story so we can get ideas of how to play things.
On a lighter note, would you like to become an official part of the Spencer family?
Yes! Obviously the big, fat gypsy wedding we had was amazing. But Kerry and Dan have been through so much that I’d love to see them have a wedding that’s different – subdued and intimate. So hopefully if they come through this Amelia situation in a positive way, that could be next…