Natalie Ann Jamieson, who plays Amy Barton on ITV’s Emmerdale, said she ‘was doing the worst dead acting ever’ while filming her character’s tragic demise
Emmerdale’s Natalie Ann Jamieson has opened up about the challenges of filming her character’s death scenes, admitting she was an “emotional wreck.”
The Yorkshire-set ITV soap saw a dramatic turn when Natalie’s character, Amy Barton, met her tragic end on Thursday after a limo plunged into a frozen lake. Despite briefly regaining consciousness and managing to id farewell to her son Kyle (Huey Quinn) and attempting to explain to her husband Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) about seeing a body in the water, Amy ultimately died in hospital.
Describing the experience, Natalie told PA news agency: “Then once she has died, she’s got scenes with Matty and (mother) Kerry (Wyatt, played by Laura Norton), and they’re like, lying with them on the bed, like chatting away to her.”
She continued, “And I was just an emotional wreck. And then I’m supposed to be dead. At this point, I just was doing the worst dead acting ever. I was tears going down, and was trying not to vibrate. I was like, oh goodness, we’ll go again on that one, please.”
Natalie also mentioned that the episode is even more of a “tearjerker” than Wednesday’s, which featured Amy having a fit in the hospital and left her partner “inconsolable”, reports the Mirror.
“I mean, obviously there’s the mix of emotions of leaving and stuff like that, because six years is a long time to be somewhere,” she shared, reflecting on her exit from the soap. “So just knowing that.. I’m obviously not losing my friends. I get to keep them but to lose… going in and seeing them at work every day, those bits of it are really sad.”
Natalie revealed that she spent a day filming her underwater scenes in a swimming pool, complete with breath-holding, a weighted wetsuit, and clothes for authenticity as her character plunges through ice and tries to swim. To gear up for this, she underwent “quick training”, which included “learning to dive down three metres, in my clothes and my shoes and back up and how to equalise for the pressure in your ears and all that kind of stuff”.
Despite initial worries about “panicking”, Natalie found herself more focused on her character’s actions during filming. She shared: “When we started to film it, because I was thinking more about, what the character was doing and stuff like that. I think I did just naturally start to stay down there for longer.”
She also mentioned getting a quick oxygen top-up from divers off-camera when the focus shifted to an arm surfacing in the lake – speculated to belong to Nate Robinson’s Jurell Carter – who previously left the soap.
The actress said the rehearsal set up gave off major “Titanic vibes”, calling to mind the iconic 1997 film that basked in Oscar glory. She shared: “One whole day, filming with the pool that was dressed (for the scene) and so that was just the underwater stuff.
“So that was just me and there that day. And then for all of the stuff that was on top, which was the ice that was made out of wax and everything like that.. I’d say, for all the different shots, we were probably there about a week.”
According to her, they’d kick off filming at around 6pm and wrap up by 2am, ensuring that “every single shot” emerging from the lake showed her drenched.
Natalie reflected on the experience as being “sad”, noting it added “that extra level of emotion to it, because it was what the characters were feeling there and then, but it was also what all of us were feeling just being there all together”. The tragic storyline also encompassed the demise of characters Suzy Merton, enacted by Martelle Edinborough, and Leyla Harding, played by Roxy Shahidi.
Beyond the soap realm, Natalie’s credits include roles in ITV’s sleuth series Vera and BBC’s drama Doctors. She’s also been recognized for her talent with a nomination for best newcomer at the TV Choice awards in 2019.
Taking over the mantle of Amy in 2019 from Chelsea Halfpenny, she became a familiar face on the popular programme.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
