{"id":54204,"date":"2024-07-02T01:01:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T23:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2063011"},"modified":"2024-07-02T09:58:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T07:58:59","slug":"emmerdales-ash-palmisciano-reveals-mattys-fears-as-hes-outed-as-transgender-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/emmerdales-ash-palmisciano-reveals-mattys-fears-as-hes-outed-as-transgender-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Emmerdale\u2019s Ash Palmisciano reveals Matty\u2019s fears as he\u2019s outed as transgender in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

The actor also reveals his pride in playing out the first trans prison storyline in soap. <\/p>

By Laura Denby\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 02 July 2024 at 23:01 PM<\/p>

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Ash Palmisciano has revealed that his Emmerdale<\/a> character Matty Barton being outed as transgender in prison is \u201cthe worst possible thing that could have happened\u201d to him.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Matty was unjustly jailed for the stabbing of Samson Dingle (Sam Hall)<\/a>, but it was actually Samson\u2019s nasty friend Josh Cope (Osian Morgan) who pushed Samson in to the path of a knife that Matty was holding.<\/p>\n

Samson has been threatened by Josh into backing up his version of events, leaving Matty\u2019s wife Amy (Natalie Ann Jamieson) and mum Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) desperate to clear his name.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Matty has revealed to his cellmate, Les, that he is trans<\/a>, and found unexpected acceptance and support. When Matty tells Amy that he has a confidant behind bars, she is thrilled. But when another prisoner approaches Amy after the visit, she mistakes him for Les, and accidentally exposes Matty\u2019s identity to the wrong person!<\/p>\n

Speaking to RadioTimes.com<\/a> and other press, Palmisciano explained: \u201cIt\u2019s the worst possible thing that could have happened to Matty; he just thought he was on the cusp of getting a hold of it and surviving, and he was going to be alright.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now he\u2019s been outed by his wife, which is unbelievable, and I think Matty thinks at first, there\u2019s absolutely no way that she would tell him on purpose, so what has [Robbo] done to her?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quite protective over her at first; but also when you\u2019re in a cell, you have a lot of time in your head, the only thing that you can do is think. I think he\u2019s going round and round and round about why this has happened, and what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Smiling\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Amy accidentally outs Matty.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Describing how the drama unfolds, the star was full of praise for the actor involved, who puts on quite the show as Matty faces his biggest fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have this conversation where Robbo makes it obvious that he knows who Matty is, without saying it. And you can see, the penny drops within Matty: \u2018How has this got out? What is about to happen?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe actor that played Robbo is called John, and he played such a menacing stillness, it was all about the tension, it was all about the build-up of\u00a0 \u2018What\u2019s he gonna do with this information? What\u2019s he gonna do next?\u2019. And it could have been anything. He\u2019s toying with Matty, basically, and sort of enjoying that as well. That was really sad to play, but really exciting from an acting point of view, as well. It was really, really terrifying, to be honest, to put myself in that position, but he played it beautifully.\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Expanding on his experience filming such gruelling scenes, the actor said it\u2019s had a huge impact on his day-to-day working life.\u00a0\u201cIt was tough, but it has been incredible; and I think it\u2019s been a real insight into a more grittier side, so I\u2019ve really enjoyed that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut obviously there comes a lot of negative emotions with it like fear, crazy levels of anxiety, and to put myself in that situation was obviously challenging. When you\u2019ve spent a full day in prison, you sort of come home and feel a bit bamboozled, really!\u201d<\/p>\n

Matty\u2019s ordeal marks the first time a regular, transgender soap character has spent time in prison. And Palmisciano told RadioTimes.com<\/strong> and other media that he\u2019s glad Emmerdale chose to give his alter ego this important storyline.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really fun as an actor to do. It feels a real first, to be honest. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever seen this on, definitely not on a UK soap before. I think a little representation on UK TV if any; so it feels a real privilege from an actors\u2019 point of view, to be able to tell a story that\u2019s kind of untold.<\/p>\n

\"Amy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Amy talks to Robbo.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really know that world and what that looks like, so that\u2019s been really great. Also for me, I\u2019ve spoken personally to a few lovely people on the call before about, for me, what it means to play just a trans character out there, let alone dealing with such a difficult, major story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really great to be able to recycle, perhaps, my own instinct feelings into something that people can really get behind,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt feels fantastic to be able to play this role, and it would have been a story that, as a kid, I would have been interested in watching and seeing what it was like. Hopefully it being a story that is really about humanity, and about someone that doesn\u2019t deserve to be somewhere, and hopefully people can really resonate with that character.\u201d<\/p>\n

On how prison may affect Matty\u2019s life in the future, the actor is cautious but hopeful. \u201cI think as humans, whatever happens in our lives always affects us, and something as traumatic as going to prison, when you\u2019re innocent as well, that\u2019s an important thing to think about; when you\u2019ve been so wrongly judged, to come out of that unaffected would be really rare. So there is going to be, obviously, an impact on his life going forward. It\u2019s going to change perhaps how he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut also it\u2019s going to teach him a lot of resilience; I think he\u2019s already got a bit of resilience about him, he\u2019s the only trans character in the village, and he\u2019s had to go through quite a lot to get to where he is anyway. So adding this experience to him, it\u2019s really exciting to think what character he\u2019s going to become.\u201d<\/p>\n

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