Alex Lincoln
“There have been moments when Jamie has been awful…”
It’s strange that people don’t seem to really hate Jamie – as I thought they would!” laughs Emmerdale star Alex Lincoln, as we give him a good rollicking over the phone for some of his alter ego’s unspeakable crimes lately. “Me and Rosie Bentham, who plays Gabby, talk about this often, because Gabby gets a lot more stick than Jamie, when she’s the young naive girl who has been swept up and fallen pregnant to a not very nice guy. I find it fascinating – unless there is a group of Jamie haters out there that I just haven’t discovered yet!”
Well, we would urge Alex not to go looking… From mowing down Moira in a hit-and-run to tormenting Belle – and attempting to manipulate Gabby into having a termination – Jamie’s excelling himself as an absolute rotter. He’s even given his ruthless mother Kim a run for her money.
That said, Alex still manages to showcase the vulnerability in Jamie that makes us root for him over Kim. And, we’re totally invested in his romance with Dawn, who really brings out Jamie’s softer, more human side with their Romeo And Juliet love story.
“Well, I am tipped to play all of Leonardo DiCaprio’s roles when he eventually stops acting!” jokes Alex. “Truthfully, though, I’ve been really lucky to play the many different sides of Jamie. There have been moments when he’s been awful – like asking someone to terminate their pregnancy is absolutely hideous, and as Alex, I cannot relate to that at all. However, it’s been fascinating to play, and to explore how on earth Jamie justifies something like that.”
The trouble is, Jamie’s torn between fighting against living up to the Tate family name and earning Kim’s seal of approval – and you can imagine the hell she gives him this week after his ex-wife, Andrea, comes out smelling of roses in their divorce settlement. Yet
“When it comes to Kim controlling Jamie’s life, he’s really fed up!”
with Kim secretly admitting to Lydia and Gabby that she has serious health concerns (see p8 for more on that), Jamie may soon find himself back in the driving seat as the struggle for power at Home Farm revs up… “At the moment, Jamie is a passenger in his own life,” remarks Alex. “Kim is his mum, and there is always going to be a degree of comfort and familiarity – maybe not in the sense that we know with our own mums, as Kim and Jamie’s relationship is a strange one, although he does feel a certain degree of admiration for her. However, when it comes to Kim controlling his life, Jamie is really fed up! I think that’s why he behaves horribly sometimes, I guess as a means of attempting to assert himself.”
As far as Jamie’s pride is concerned, there’s still much at stake and also lots to play for – and Alex can’t wait for the next big Tate family twist.
When the star joined Emmerdale in 2019, he knew that big stories went hand-inhand with the show’s iconic clan. Yet never in his wildest dreams did Alex imagine playing such a central role.
“I knew about the Tate dynasty, but I didn’t necessarily think I was going to be at the forefront of so many storylines, so it’s been fantastic,” grins the 27-year-old. “When I used to watch the show with my grandma years ago, I remember what would have been 90s Emmerdale – with Kim, Frank and Dave Glover – so to think I’m a part of that lineage now is amazing. There were probably times where I looked up at my TV and saw baby Jamie. It’s funny how the world works out sometimes!”