EMMERDALE’S Louisa Clein has confessed she’s found filming the kissing scenes with her teenage co-star Joe-Warren Plant, “difficult”.
The actress is currently embroiled in the soap’s controversial grooming storyline that has seen her character Maya Stepney seduce her boyfriend David Metcalfe’s teenage son.
Speaking to What’s On TV, the 40-year-old revealed she was finding the whole thing difficult.
She said: “It is difficult, but Joe-Warren Plant is a joy to work with and he’s so mature for his age.
“He’s been on the show for such a long time and has been working with adults since he was eight years old, so he’s very happy around adults. You wouldn’t necessarily pin him as 16 when you met him.”
Viewers have been shocked as teacher Maya has groomed the young student with the two now having a full-blown sexual relationship.
The hard-hitting storyline has garnered Ofcom complaints from Emmerdale viewers with many tweeting their disgust.
Louisa and the rest of the actors involved has been working closely with children’s charity Barnardos to ensure it is handled sensitively and accurately.
Louisa said: “I think they were nervous that it would be turned into a beautiful, romantic story, like, “If only they were nearer the same age…”
“But we were very clear that we want to tell the story that this is wrong and something that shouldn’t be let go of. There needs to be some form of retribution.”
Producers of the soap have been careful not to make the filming of the scenes too sexy for the pair.
Louisa said: “Of course it’s awkward, but the scriptwriters are very sensitive to that, as are the directors and producers. We’re all very conscious of not making it (the scenes) sexually titillating.
“Any form of intimacy doesn’t need to be sexy. It’s about the implied emotional intimacy, which is the creepy bit in a way.
“It’s got to be that way. And Barnardo’s were very happy when we told them the way we were going to play the story through.”
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