Emmerdale’s Laurel Thomas star warns ‘out of control’ as Arthur ‘spirals’
Emmerdale star Charlotte Bellamy has teased Laurel’s upcoming storyline as Arthur’s anger begins to “spiral” following Ray’s burial.
The 52-year-old actress has played the role of Laurel Thomas in the ITV soap for the past 23 years, and recently she became romantically involved with villain Ray Walters.
It was only revealed recently that Ray Walters and mum Celia Daniels had been grooming teenagers April and Dylan into doing drug runs in order to pay off their debts.
Things escalated when April confessed everything to Marlon and Rhona, and the villains ran Dylan over to show them what would happen if they told the police.
Not only that, but Ray and Celia were running a modern slavery operation on the outskirts of the Emmerdale village. As the drama heated up, Ray killed Celia in the hope that he would be able to start a new life with Laurel.
However, Laurel turned him down after learning about his true colours, and sent him away. It was then in a week of whodunnit-style episodes that viewers found out Ray had been murdered.
Even though viewers believed Bear had died, he showed up and placed Ray in a chokehold before he slumped to the floor, lifeless to save Paddy and Dylan who were being threatened by the villain.
In coming episodes, Ray’s burial is impending and it’s clear it is going to cause some upset. Laurel asks Charles to attend the funeral when she learns that no one will be there.
Feeling conflicted, Laurel also decides to go as well as Bear after he insists on going. When Laurel finds Bear drinking on his own, she tries to get him to open up and promises to be there for him.
Meanwhile, Arthur struggles to learn Laurel went to Ray’s burial. Laurel tries to be understanding of Arthur’s anger but their stand off ends with Arthur accidentally pushing her down the stairs. Laurel’s in hospital, will his secret be exposed?
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News and other press about Arthur’s actions, Charlotte warned about his anger spiralling “out of control” and added: “I think the story is about how much a mother or a parent protects their child. She doesn’t want people to think the worst of him.
“How do you explain that to somebody? ‘Oh yeah my son got angry and he threw me over’. Of course, as a parent you want to protect them don’t you?”
Addressing what it’s like to work with actor Alfie Clarke on adult storylines, Charlotte continued: “It’s funny because Alfie has been in the show since he was two and a half, and he’s just turned 18. His mum had to leave and I think she was more upset than anyone because she’s been in the show, technically on set, the last 16 years!
“He’s now an adult around the building and he hasn’t got his mum with him. I kind of feel a bit like a screen-mum, I’m sort of coaching him through all of this.”