“I was concerned about how brutal these scenes are…”

With Rhona and Pierce’s relationship in ruins, Zoe shares her thoughts…

What was filming the wedding day like?

Well, it was a Saturday, so I was thinking, ‘Brilliant, everyone’s going to love me for making them work at the weekend…’! But it was all pretty swift in the end – we finished filming on time, or maybe even a bit early, I think. The weather was pretty good, too. And it was a nice bunch of people, so it was pretty pain-free.

Actors often mention that big events like this can take ages to film.

Yes, they can – these kinds of days can be very long and drawn out, and everyone’s lost the plot by about 3 o’clock! But this one was nowhere near as bad as Cain and Moira’s wedding day, which was one of the longest days of everybody’s lives. The fog had set in and by 2 o’clock everybody was nearly in tears!

What did you make of Rhona’s dress?

I did have a say in it – our lovely costume lady Sue got about seven dresses, and I chose what I’d feel most comfortable in. There was quite a lot of physical stuff to film, so we took that into account and spent an afternoon trying on all the dresses to figure out what worked.

Is the gown something you’d choose for yourself?

I think the dress is perfect for Rhona. It’s not massively ‘weddingy’, it’s more like an evening dress, which suits her taste. I don’t know if I’d wear it, but I certainly didn’t dislike it. They did a good job of making sure it fitted me.

Pierce has made it very clear that he’s bad news for Rhona – so are we set to be shocked by how their wedding day pans out?

Yes. When I read the script, I found it quite shocking. And when we rehearsed, I did air my concerns about how harsh some of it is. But we can’t half-tell this story. You can’t make it less awful, because what Pierce does is brutal. If we don’t tell it properly, we’re not doing our jobs right.

What advice do you wish you could have given Rhona ahead of time?

Probably the same advice as Vanessa gave her, really. It’s hard, because nobody knows what truly goes on behind closed doors. Over the years I’ve had friends in relationships where I’ve said things like, “I wouldn’t put up with that,” or “I wouldn’t allow someone to speak to me in that manner”. But everyone is different, and everyone has a different threshold. It can be a tricky one!