Emmerdale fans were left overjoyed by the news that Patsy Kensit was reprising her role on the ITV soap after 20 years – but the pressure led to panic attacks for the star.
The actor first appeared as the scheming Sadie King on the series in 2004 and left in 2006 after scoring a role on BBC medical drama Holby City.
Kensit, 58, has already filmed her return, but has revealed she was left feeling overwhelmed by the number of lines she had to learn.
“During the first two weeks, I was having panic attacks and I was so worried about the amount of dialogue we had to learn,” she told ITV News.
But, the Lethal Weapon 2 actor said her muscle memory kicked in as she’s “been doing this my whole life”.
Kensit’s other credits include The Great Gatsby (1974) and Hanover Street (1979), which followed her appearance as a child in the Birds Eye Peas TV advert.
The actor added that, unlike her Emmerdale character, she is “pathologically polite”, meaning she gets to “live vicariously through” her.
Kensit previously said that Sadie King has acquired “new depths” since her absence, but remains “a cow”.
Sadie first arrived in 2004 as Jimmy King’s wife, departing two years later following affairs with Cain Dingle, Robert Sugden, and her brother-in-law Matthew.
The soap star, who shares son Lennon with ex-partner Liam Gallagher, said: “I think it’s really smart what (producer) Laura Shaw and the writers have done.
“We want to find out about the real person because obviously that’s really interesting for me to play and I think for the audience to see where she is in her life. You know, what does this woman really have and what does she really value? Does she have any values?
“I think that that’s interesting to explore as a woman and with the things that we go through in life – going through the change and all of that stuff. I think there’s a bittersweet kind of side to her, and it’d be nice that maybe that would come through.”
While little is known about what brings Sadie back to the village, it has been revealed she will have a run-in with Kim Tate, played by Claire King.
Kensit said: “I got to do some scenes with Claire King the other day and we took it old school. Old school bitches.”
Kensit, who went on to play Faye Morton in Holby City between 2007 and 2019, added: “It’s overwhelming when you come back, because it’s such a well-oiled machine, and everyone that works on the show, the cast, the crew, all the hair and make-up departments, costume, everyone is so good.”
She added: “It’s one of the best places I’ve ever worked and coming back, I’m just so impressed. At the studio, I was walking around saying ‘it’s so glamorous’.”
Additional reporting by Agencies
