More from 'Emmerdale' star Alice Coulthard

I recently interviewed Emmerdale actress Alice Coulthard to discuss the latest twist in the Mark Wylde murder storyline.

If you haven't already done so, click here to read the main part of the chat, which sees Alice explain why there's more trauma ahead for her character Maisie.

Alternatively, read on for bonus bits from Alice, including more on her decision to depart Emmerdale after two years with the soap.

Was quitting Emmerdale a difficult decision to make?
"As I'd always planned to stay in the show for about two years, it was a decision that I'd made as soon as I started the job, to be honest! So I just decided to stick to it."

What kind of projects are you hoping to do next?
"I'm not sure yet. I've just got married, and literally everything that I've been doing and thinking about up until a few weeks ago has been to do with my wedding! So I've kind of taken a step back from thinking about my career, but now I'm just starting to talk to my agent again. I'm open to television and theatre - anything, as long as it's the right thing! There's not one particular medium that I'm looking for, I just want it to be the right part for me."

Are you surprised that Amanda Donohoe and Lyndon Ogbourne are also leaving?
"Well, Lyndon also lives in London and his girlfriend is in London, so I know that he shares similar feelings to me about being away from home all the time - it's very difficult. And Amanda lives in Suffolk and her partner is in Suffolk, so we've all been away from home while we've been doing Emmerdale, so I don't think it was something that any of us were going to do forever. So their decisions to leave didn't come as a shock to me, no."

A lot of Emmerdale fans are quite sad that it's going to be the end for the Wylde family - do you feel the same way?
"Oh yeah, absolutely! I love Lyndon and Amanda, and they're now two of my closest friends. It'll be really hard, because we all spend so much time together every day. We've also had a great journey throughout our time on the soap, and we've had some great drama in the family and played good characters. I know we'll all be very sad to see the back of the family."

Are you pleased with the way that Maisie is going to be written out?
"Yes, my whole journey from last year has just been a huge rollercoaster and it ends in an interesting way, so I'm looking forward to it!"

Do you think Maisie has grown much as a character since we first saw her?
"Yeah, I would say she's grown loads. She's been through so much and it's been an emotional rollercoaster for Maisie and for me! (Laughs) After everything she's been through, she's grown up a lot since she came into the series, so I think I've been very lucky to play a character with a very strong journey."

Would you be interested in playing Maisie again one day, or are you closing that door now?
"I haven't closed any doors!"

Do you think you'll keep in touch with the Emmerdale cast, and is there any one in particular that you'll miss?
"Yes! I'm very close to Sammy Winward and Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi, along with Amanda and Lyndon. I'm sure that I'll keep in touch with all of those people."

When you look back at your time on Emmerdale, are there any particular highlights or favourite storylines?
"The discovery that Ryan was Maisie's brother and doing all of those episodes were some of the hardest things that I've ever done, but also the most rewarding and cathartic. I also really enjoyed my breakdown storyline - I got to push myself emotionally in ways that I hadn't done before, so that was great. And there's been loads of fun moments - as much as I hated hours and hours of really long Woolpack days, I also had loads of fun because everyone goes into The Woolpack so I got to know lots of people outside of my own screen family. That was really lovely."

Have you enjoyed the romance storyline between Maisie and Nikhil?
"Yeah, that's been great fun. It was enjoyable because it was a new stage in Maisie's journey - it was a chance for me to show another side of Maisie following what had happened to her, so that was great. It was good to see her smiling and in control for once!"

You've mentioned in the past how it can be quite draining to film so many emotional scenes - have you got used to them more as time has gone on?
"It's still difficult because you have to be prepared to take yourself to that place and to summon those kind of emotions, which is quite painful to do sometimes. It takes a lot out of you, and I probably have got used to them a bit more, but I wouldn't say it's made it any easier. But I've done them so many times now and I've got used to the feeling, so it's not such a shock to the system when I've got to do it!"

Will you be bearing that in mind when choosing future roles - perhaps picking something more light-hearted?
"I'd love to do some comedy, actually! I'd really love that."

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