Ella is back in Emmerdale, which hasn’t been easy, now everyone knows her killer secret. Plus her joy at being pregnant has been dashed when she discovered she had a ‘blighted ovum’ and there was no longer a baby. It’s definitely been a roller coaster few months for Paula Lane character Ella since she arrived in the village – and there’s more to come!
We caught up with Paula Lane, who plays Ella, to find out what’s next for the child killer – and how Emmerdale viewers reacted to the reveal of Ella’s murderous secret.
Welcome home?
“Most people didn’t see that one coming,” says Paula. “I’ve had a few messages actually, like via social media. All very positive on the acting front, but I think it is quite thought-provoking. You know, where you sit with it morally? Because obviously I’m a mother. If somebody did that to my child, I would find it enormously difficult to forgive. That’s what’s brilliant about this storyline is that it does get you questioning it. On the whole, I feel people believe that she served her time.”
But will the people in Emmerdale feel the same? With a few exceptions it seems that Ella has been welcomed back, if not exactly with open arms, then with a grudging acceptance.
“Through the help of Mandy and Manpreet, and Liam to an extent, people have been willing to let her back in,” Paula explains.
So, how does Ella feel about that? Because she’s been running her whole life and this is probably the first place she has been accepted.
Emmerdale Paula Lane: Settling in
“As time goes on she starts working at the vets,” Paula says. That boosts her confidence a little bit because she and Tracy are up for the same job. There are some great scenes there where Tracy is not one of the people who wants to accept her. She’s very much on the other side and won’t forget what Ella has done. But it does boost her confidence when she starts working again, getting more involved in the village and people getting to know her for who she is.”
Paula says that when she first took the part of Ella, she didn’t know what her storyline was going to be.
“Initially, I think I was quite nervous to play it out,” she admits. “Because you just never know which way the audience is going to go. But ultimately, I just always look for the truth in it. And then hope that everything kind of follows on from there.
But she points out that the signs were there with Ella from the start. “You know, she flipped off the handle that one time with the boss of the vets when she poured the pint over him,” she reminds us. “So I think we’ve been able to see hints of how she’s tried to hold it back until he’s just pushed her buttons. But that’s what’s great about her because you never quite know when something’s going to trigger. And that’s what’s fantastic about this because it can go any which way now!”
Emmerdale Paula Lane: Ella v Wendy!
And it really does go when Ella comes up against Wendy!
So what happens?
“It’s like she feels exposed all the time,” Paula begins. “She’ll try and take a step forward and then she takes ten back because people come back from her past. She’s got so many skeletons in the closet! And at this point, Gary returns.”
Gary is the nephew of June – the elderly woman who Ella visited in the care home.
“He returns and outs her again in the Woolpack on her birthday, which she was reluctant to celebrate in the first place,” Paula reveals. ” So she’s put herself out there, she has opened herself back up, and then he makes a return.”
And with emotions running high, Ella has a confrontation with Wendy, that turns violent.
“I think it’s that survival instinct,” muses Paula. “She’s still really rattled by it. And I guess we just have to ask ourselves, what makes somebody switch like that? And I think she just feels she doesn’t belong in this place. She doesn’t belong in this world. And actually, she’s probably safer elsewhere.”
Has Ella had outbursts like this since the murder when she was a child?
“I don’t know actually,” says Paula. “I don’t think she’s ever been as unhinged as she is in that scene. Has she lost it? Or is she doing it for a good reason? Is she almost putting on a front?”
Sounds intriguing! It seems there is a lot more to Ella than meets the eye.
Loving Liam?
And after the drama of the pregnancy that never really was, is there any hope for her and Liam or is that over?
“Maybe one night with a takeaway and a bottle of wine? Who knows?” laughs Paula. “There is potential there. Obviously, it’s good to explore different relationships.”
Is there anyone else that she’s suited to?
“Oh, this is funny, because I did think about her and Cain,” says Paula. “When I filmed that very intense scene, even I went ‘Ooh!’ I kind of joked previously you always like a bad boy, because they can take you to different places and things. So we’ll see. There’s nothing been said on that front. But to be honest, there are not that many people – I have gone through it in my head and thought maybe she’ll go with Vanessa! Maybe she’ll end up going the other way!”
Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale in 2024? Cast exits, arrivals and returns.
Emmerdale usually airs on weekdays at 7.30pm, with an hour long episode on Thursdays.
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