Emmerdale’s Gillian Kearney, who plays killer Emma Barton, opens up about scenes with dementia sufferer Ashley
Killer Emma reduced Ashley to tears in a heart-breaking scene
EMMERDALE's Gillian Kearney, who plays killer Emma Barton, opened up about filming tough scenes with dementia sufferer Ashley.
During an appearance on This Morning, Gillian said she "felt like a bully" when she reduced the ex-vicar to tears as she manipulated him into forgetting he had seen her push her husband James off a bridge and onto his car.
Speaking to co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, Gillian said she has 'fun' playing killer Emma but the scenes with Ashley were hard.
She said: ";I felt like a bully that day, I arrived with a pie so I think people thought I was going to poison him."
In the scene, Emma offers to watch Ashley and brings him some pie but things turned nasty when he said he remembered seeing her on the bridge.
Viewers were left seething that she would purposefully target and confuse someone suffering from early onset vascular dementia.
When asked about her character, Gillian said she doesn't see her as "crazy" or "psychotic" like many viewers do.
She said: "I think things have gotten quite intense, she has lost a bit of perspective by the time she gets into the wedding dress but I'm trying to get across that she's still a human."
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Things are set to get even more tense on tonight's episode when Emma shows up at James's inquest after agreeing to stay home.
However, does she confess to her sons that she's killed her father or choose to keep quiet?
Gillian hinted: "She's been self-medicating and she turns up at the inquest but I'm not sure she has the strength to tell her boys."
Naturally, Gillian gets recognised a lot in the street for playing the villain from the Dales.
She said: "People say to me 'you're going to prison soon' when they see me out and about.
"I think people want me to get caught but they don't want me to as well because it's fun."
Emmerdale airs tonight at 7pm on ITV.
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