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Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Olivia Bromley has opened up about her dramatic departure from the soap after eight years in the role of Dawn Fletcher.
Sunday’s (30 August) episode featured another major shock for fans, as Dawn passed away from complications after the terrifying car crash on her wedding day.
Tragedy struck just hours after Dawn had given birth to a baby boy – destroying her chance at a happy ending with her wayward fiancé Joe Tate.
Digital Spy recently caught up with Olivia for an exclusive chat about her departure.
ITV
Hi, Olivia! How are you feeling now that your time on Emmerdale has come to an end?
“I was excited about the storyline and ready for my own new chapter. But I was surprised about how emotional it was to film, even after I’d known this was coming for a long time!
“It was the physicality of it as an actor and saying goodbye to this character that I’ve lived with for eight years. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but suddenly I was very emotional about it!”
Your departure from the show was first reported in March – was that when it was all decided?
“It’d been on the cards before that. We were in talks about it, but I didn’t necessarily know that we were going to go down the death route. That wouldn’t have been my choice necessarily, because it means that you can’t come back.
“But I was also excited to go off, do other things and spread my wings a little bit. We had a long time to prep for this and discuss what the story was going to be like. It was exciting when we finally got the scripts and I saw how it was going to play out.”
Was it your choice to move on?
“I wanted to go and do other things – I think most actors want to at some point when they’ve been playing a character for so long. But it was the producers’ choice to do the storyline of Dawn’s death, so as an actor, you just have to play with it.
“The story was great and I thought: ‘Okay, this is probably a good thing because it’s a big, massive exit’. It’s not like: ‘Oh, go away for a bit and maybe come back’. It was very final, which for an actor is scary.
“But for me on a personal level, I think it was absolutely perfect. I think I would have been too scared to close the door entirely. So to be given this amazing story for Dawn’s exit was really exciting to me.”
ITV
Do you think the final episodes have settled the debate over whether Billy or Joe was the right man for Dawn?
“I’ve gone back and forth about it in my head! I was always ‘Team Billy and Dawn’ – I thought that Joe was such a nasty piece of work and Dawn would eventually see him for who he was and take him down.
“But towards the end, there was something super romantic about the fact that Joe and Dawn kept choosing each other, even though everybody thought it was a terrible idea.
“Dawn knew that Joe wasn’t a perfect person, but she saw the good in him that no-one else could see, and he could be different with her. I talked to the producers a lot about this and in many ways that’s a true love story – Joe really did start to change for her and there’s just something hugely romantic about that.
“In one of the final episodes, Dawn said that she’s an addict and couldn’t stay away from Joe. Whether it was the right decision or not, ultimately that’s the thing that caused her demise.
“She made the decision to go back to Joe, when she had the stable and loving Billy standing right in front of her and she could have just driven off. But she didn’t – she went back.”
What was your favourite era for Dawn? She went through quite a lot of changes over the eight years!
“I loved it when Dawn first came in – I played her very differently then. The character has grown up and I’ve changed too. She was young and she had this grumpy attitude – she was really angry at her dad and she felt like the world was against her. She just used to storm into every house slamming doors, and I liked the chaos of her.
“But I’ve liked seeing the phases of Dawn suddenly becoming a mother and becoming more business-savvy. It’s been a really nice trajectory to see. There’s something lovely about that because you don’t want the character to stay exactly the same as an actor.”
Are you expecting some big stories to come from Dawn’s death, for those left behind?
“I think the ripple effects will be quite big. Billy made some decisions in a selfish way, and they had a massive knock-on effect. Essentially, his actions have resulted in the death of the love of his life, but also tragedy for other people as well. It’s really tragic, but Billy acted out of care and love for Dawn.
“Then you’ve got Caleb and Ruby, who have been completely manipulative and have just used Dawn and Billy as pawns. They had no care for Dawn or her wellbeing at all – they’ve just used her, so there’s guilt there.
“Then you’ve got Joe – and the children who are left without her. There’s Kim and Gabby too. I think the ripple effect is massive and it’s a question of who is to blame, but everybody is also going to be dealing with their own grief and guilt in a different way. I think that’s going to be very interesting for the audience to watch.”
ITV
Did the cast give you a good send-off?
“Yes, we had a leaving party recently and it was really fun. We had a band, we danced very late and it was really nice. The funny thing with this job is that it becomes a bit of a lifestyle as well. It’s very rare for actors to stay in the same place with the same people for so long.
“I think that’s the thing that I’ll find the saddest. I’ve just been used to seeing the same people every day – whether it’s the crew and the make-up team or different directors and ADs (Assistant Directors). You all become very close, but how lucky to have had that – and what a great bunch of people to work with for that amount of time. We had a brilliant send-off.”
As you and Nick Miles (Jimmy) left in the same week, did you have any time to reflect together amid the chaos of the stunt?
“It was pretty chaotic for both of us, actually. But yeah, we did. Obviously Nick was in the show for 22 years, so that’s a much bigger stint than me. And what an iconic character and what an amazing person. But I think we both just felt very pleased to be part of a big, spectacular ending.”
Who will you stay in touch with?
“So many people. I’ve got my little Home Farm unit – I’ve been so lucky to work with Claire (King), Andy (Scarborough), Ned (Porteous), Jay (Kontzle), Rosie (Bentham). They’re just brilliant, supportive, lovely people.
“And the rest of the Emmerdale cast too – I’m going to see them all lots. It’s just a great bunch of people, so all of them. They won’t get rid of me that easily!”
What would you like the future to hold? We could imagine you in a period drama, or maybe something really gritty…
“Both of those things I would love to do! Honestly, I would love to just play lots of different characters. A period drama would be interesting because that’s so different to what I’ve been playing with Dawn. Doing something that’s very heightened and maybe a more classical character or in a different world – I’d love to do something like that. Get me in a corset! (Laughs.)
“But also, the gritty characters are the most fun. I’d love to do more telly playing interesting characters. There’s so much I’d like to do.”
ITV
Would you ever do another long-running show?
“I would absolutely do continuing drama again – it’s just so fun. Although I think I would need to have a little bit of time to grieve and detach from Dawn. Then I could turn up in a wig with a different accent and just be someone different and see if anyone notices!”
Are there any former co-stars you’d love to work with again – people like Katherine Dow Blyton (Harriet), Alex Lincoln (Jamie), who you had big storylines with?
“Oh my gosh, I’d absolutely love to work with them both again. What a dream for me to be working with Kath when I first started. I hadn’t done any telly before. It’s so scary to go on to a set where they’re like, ‘and take!’, and then it just goes on TV and you’ve done it once sometimes.
“What Kath was amazing at was that she just made it a really relaxed and funny environment. I never felt nervous in front of her and I could mess up. And she was always just like: ‘Oh, it’s fine!’ She was really patient with me doing that. It allowed me to grow, make mistakes and learn without feeling too much pressure. I’m really grateful for that, so I’d love to work with her in something again.
“There’s also Dean Andrews, who played my dad Will. That would be fun. Although I’ve got such a dad-daughter relationship with him almost in real life now, because we played it for so long. I can’t imagine playing anything other than his daughter!”
Do you have a final message for the fans?
“I just want to say thank you for watching, supporting and shouting at Dawn as well when she did things wrong and just being so engaged. I know she’s been controversial at times, and I know she’s made some very tricky decisions.
“But what an absolute joy for me to play this character and what a gift to be given all these stories – the twists and turns and the way that her trajectory has gone and how she’s grown. I’ve had so many lovely messages from people and so much support. So as an actor, I’ve just absolutely loved this chapter. And I just want to thank everybody for watching and engaging with her, really.”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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