Her character has been getting away with murder for months.
But Emmerdale bosses were taking no chances filming Paige Sandhu’s gun-toting hostage scenes in a bid to avoid an Alec Baldwin-style tragedy.
Last night viewers saw Paige’s serial killer character Meena Jutla kidnap newlyweds Dawn Taylor and Billy Fletcher, hold them at gunpoint and order them to choose who will live.
And in the wake of the death of Halyna Hutchins – who was killed when Baldwin’s prop revolver discharged on the set of the film Rust – soap chiefs overhauled safety procedures.
Paige says: “From speaking to the gun handler people, their safety precautions have increased even more from what they were before due to that.
(Image: ITV)
“I wouldn’t rehearse with a gun.
“As soon as they called ‘cut’ the handler would grab the gun again.
“He would show us there were no bullets in there, or if there were, that they were empty, so you couldn’t possibly hurt anyone.”
While she’s already bumped off three of the villagers, this is the
first time Meena has been armed.
Paige continues: “It’s a step-up. We’ve never seen Meena with a weapon like this.
(Image: Chloe Rivers <chloe.rivers@reachplc.com>)
“If she has had a weapon it’s been something that’s been close by, like the signpost that she picks up to hurt Andrea in the maze.
“This brought more intensity and excitement and gravity to
the scenes.”
When she joined the cast in September 2020 Paige – voted
Best Villain at last year’s Inside Soap Awards – was fully aware of what murderous deeds the part would involve.
“It’s been the dream role,” she says. “I don’t think I look particularly evil.
(Image: ITV)
“To have a young girl who looks like they wouldn’t be able to hurt a fly go off and do these crazy things – and enjoy it – it’s interesting. In all of my research of psychopaths, one thing that’s come up a lot is they have incredibly inappropriate reactions to everyday life.
“Their reactions aren’t ‘normal’ because they can’t think and feel the way we do.
“That’s really interesting to act, and also to watch.
“It’s been really fulfilling for me as an actor to play this complex, multi-faceted character.”
(Image: ITV)
And she’s proud to see a mixed-race female character come to the forefront too.
Paige adds: “You see a lot of Indian parts in TV shows as doctors, lawyers and very academic, respectable, but now we’re seeing a mixed-race, serial-killer woman, which completely goes against the mould. How exciting and fun is that to have a completely different take?
“There are so many incredible actors and actresses who can play all sorts of roles and if we keep opening that up, they get their chance.
(Image: ITV)
“It makes storytelling much more fun.”
So how does she switch off after a day playing murderous Meena?
Paige says: “A lot of sleep is what I use. I love my sleep but I’ve had dreams where I am Meena and it was all real.
“That freaked me out – put some distance between me and this character!”
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7pm on ITV.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
