Emmerdale actor Emile John, who plays Ethan Anderson on the ITV soap, has opened up about how difficult he has found it to be involved in the controversial racism storyline his on-screen character is currently facing.
Emile joined the cast as lawyer Ethan in January 2021 and is currently in the middle of his biggest storyline to date, the plot sees his character Ethan wrestle with his conscience after agreeing to represent the racist Jordan Greenlow.
Jordan, played by Jack Parr, has been accused of racially aggravated assault after he attacked Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) last month.
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The case is Ethan's first as a duty solicitor, however, his role in representing Jordan has caused quite a stir in the village.
Emile has admitted he was surprised by how “abhorrent” the language is when he first read the script for the complex storyline surrounding the important issue of racism.
In an interview with the Express.co.uk and other publications the actor said that he felt Emmerdale was "brave" for including such "abhorrent" examples of racism on the show.
He said: "Just looking at the scripts and stuff and also the language is just such, you know, abhorrent language that the viewers will see.
“So, being at the heart of that was quite difficult sometimes, but yeah, it's fun to play and I'm having a lot of fun with it."
The 25-year-old soap star went on to praise the producers of the show for not shying away from the issue as he emphasised the importance of portraying such a hard-hitting storyline.
He continued: “I think it’s important, I think this storyline speaks to Ethan's character and you know who he is as a person. We really get to see what Ethan's values are here.
“And also, I think it's important to show that these people like Jordan do exist in the world. Emmerdale are being brave in that they're choosing to call out this behaviour.
“I think that the viewers will find more of a connection to Ethan and understand his psychology more and just with the storyline as well, it's quite a controversial one.”
Emile touches on how racism is often portrayed on television and how Emmerdale is focusing more on overt racism, rather than covert racism, in order not to 'water down' the topic and make it more comfortable for viewers as it is important to give a realistic representation of the very real topic.
The actor shared: “I think this storyline brings to light what can actually happen and what does happen in the world. I think Emmerdale has been really brave and they're sort of showing it in its most huge form.
“Like, usually when series or dramas talk on the topic of racism it is more covert racism, and it's not really too harsh, but here we see someone who is actually very overt with it. His language is disgusting. And yeah, it's important because these people in the world do exist.”
Emmerdale continues tonight at 7.30pm on ITV.
You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars. There you'll also find our Emmerdale features and news about the show's 50th anniversary plans.
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