Soaps
James Hooton - the Dales' Sam - took a break from filming to give Digital Spy an insight into his character and chat about Ursula Holden-Gill, euthanasia and his ambitions beyond the Yorkshire-based soap.
This week, we've seen Alice take a turn for the worse. How has this affected Sam?
"He’s shocked and upset and that’s made worse when Alice ask him to help her die. I don’t think he was expecting her to even consider something like that. He can’t understand why Alice wants to leave him and Samson."
How did Sam feel when he knew he was marrying someone who’s future was uncertain?
"Sam was so in love that he just wanted to support her and make her happy for what time she had left. Marrying her was one of the ways he could make her happy."
We've got some emotional episodes coming up next week where Sam has to make a very difficult decision. What were these scenes like to film?
"They were hard work, very intense and emotionally draining. I think any actor would give both his arms to work on such an amazing storyline and I feel very lucky to have played such a huge part in it."
Does Sam feel bad for implicating Eli?
"He feels guilty because he misled Eli about why he needed the morphine. Eli wouldn’t have got the morphine for Sam if he had know what it was for and Sam knows this but he was just trying to do what was best for Alice."
How do you think Sam will cope on his own?
"He will undoubtedly find it hard at first. He’s made a promise to Alice that he’ll bring Samson up and look after him and make sure that he’ll always be aware of Alice as he grows up. I’m sure that he’ll find the strength to cope especially with the family there to support him."
Do you think Sam is ever likely to find love again?
"Maybe not for some time. He has a son to love and the love of his family around him to see him through this difficult time. But maybe one day he will find love again."
"They are obviously shocked at how Alice died because it wasn’t something they thought Sam was capable of. Zak will be disappointed that he would go to Marlon and Eli for help and not to him. But Sam knows that Zak and Lisa would have tried to talk him out of it so he’s happy because he knows he’s done what Alice wanted."
Sam lets slip to Ashley about he's done – are there any repercussions from this?
"I think Sam is a very honest person who will just blab things out at the wrong time. Although he’s had a chat with Zak about the consequences he’s not thinking about that when he’s talking to Ashley. Obviously Ashley will feel burdened by what he knows and will find it hard to deal with."
Have you had any feedback on the storyline from viewers?
"I’ve had some really wonderful feedback from the viewers, it’s really great how supportive they’ve been."
What was it like working with Ursula?
"I think the major thing is that Sam has never had a long term girlfriend before so it certainly revolutionised my involvement on the show. We’ve had a lot of scenes together and worked very closely on quite a meaty storyline so in that respect I’ll really miss Ursula because she changed the dynamic of Sam’s character. She changed Sam’s standing within the Dingle family because he’s a family man. But there’s just him and Samson now so it will be interesting to see how it develops."
You've been in the show for around 11 years – how do you think your character has developed over this time?
"Over the last 18 months he’s grown up a lot. He’s gained a lot of responsibilities, first meeting and falling in love with Alice, having a child, caring for someone with a terminal illness, it’s all made him take stock of his life and mature as person."
What are your ambitions beyond Emmerdale?
"I’ve done a lot of stage and film before I worked on Emmerdale. I’d love to do some film again."
Emmerdale has released Sam and Alice's 'Easy Come Easy Go' as a charity record with the profits going to leukaemia research. What are your thoughts on this?
"The storyline has been great raising the awareness of NHL and anything that help raise money that will help find a cure the disease is great."
What are your leisure time interests?
"I like to keep fit. I play a lot of football, I’m training for the season with the 11-a-side team at moment and I play 5-a-side during the week as well."
Thanks for chatting to us, James!
