Actor Dominic Brunt is currently at the centre of one of Emmerdale's most emotional storylines of 2023 so far.
Dominic, who has been playing Paddy Kirk in the ITV soap since 1997, said it has been an honour and privilege to portray his character's mental health struggles in a bid to raise awareness. In the latest episodes which aired this week, Paddy shared his devastating plan to take his own life.
Dominic said he has felt "a huge sense of responsibility" to tell Paddy's story as best as he could. As part of the process, the actor and producers worked with various mental health charities.
Read more: Emmerdale fans hail 'outstanding' Dominic Brunt as they praise 'powerful' episode
Dominic said: “I just tried my best. I couldn’t let myself even open a little door to the black dogs that these people experience. I was pretending, the scripts and the dialogue was so good and the journey and the curve was so clear that it was almost easy to do.
“However, the emotion that you had to visit had to be shaken off almost immediately, and I felt supported. I’m not suffering like that, I’m a stupid actor with a script in their hands."
The 52-year-old added: "However, I was privileged and honoured to serve that story. But it didn’t touch the sides for me because I know what it’s like for someone to really really go through that.”
This is not the first time Paddy has been going through a difficult time. He previously lost his baby daughter Grace, shortly after she was born, and struggled to track down his biological father Bear Wolf.
Below we take a look at Dominic Brunt's remarkable career, his marriage to his Emmerdale co-star and how they almost lost their son Danny.
Humble beginnings
Before his rise to fame, the Macclesfield-born actor worked as a welder while at drama school. He previously said that he used to be painfully shy and struggled with a stutter and that acting helped him with both.
He told The Sun: "I was in a tiny cubicle which was completely solitary, welding chairs thousands of times, weeks on end. I thought I was going mad.
"I always had a little bit of a stutter and was a bit insular. I would have to force words out. The isolation of work and not coming across lots of people very often made it worse.”
After landing himself a spot at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he met his future wife and Emmerdale co-star Joanne Mitchell. To support himself financially, he worked also worked as a cleaner and waiter before his big break in 1997.
Unusual interests
While Dominic is very well known in the world of soaps, horror fans might also recognise him. A self-confessed zombie addict, he has starred in a number of spine-tingling films such as Before Dawn and Inbred.
His love for the genre has led him to start production firm Mitchell Brunt Films with his wife Joanne which has made several horror films. He also runs the annual zombie film festival in Leeds with Emmerdale co-star Mark Charnock.
He previously told thisishorror.co.uk: "I am the biggest nerd when it comes to film and horror film in particular. I am also an avid comic book reader, too, so I have all my geek credentials unapologetically intact."
Marriage to co-star
As mentioned, Dominic met his wife Joanne Mitchell while at drama school in Bristol. Just like Dominic, Joanne is a film, stage and TV actor who has appeared in various films and shows over the years.
She has had four roles on Emmerdale so far, with her first being DS Karen Barnborough in 2003. She then portrayed midwife Yeo and Susan Davies before taking over the role of Sandra Flaherty in 2006.
It is unclear how long Dominic and Joanne have been dating before getting married in 2003. Emmerdale co-star Lisa Riley was one of the guests at their wedding.
Dominic and Joanne have two sons together, Micky-Joe and Danny-Lee. Last year, Joanne revealed their teenage sons haven't any of the Emmerdale episodes featuring their parents.
She told the Mirror: "The boys are really laid back but they haven’t watched me in the soap yet. To be honest, they haven’t ever watched Dom either.
"It’s uncool that Mum and Dad are actors! They have grown up with us being actors and they are not interested – but I think that is healthy."
Son Danny-Lee's life-saving surgery
Following the highly distressing storyline of baby Grace on Emmerdale, Dominic revealed during an appearance on This Morning in 2018 that his son Danny had to undergo heart surgery when he was just eight months old. Doctors told the family that there was a chance Danny might not survive the procedure.
Dominic said: “At the time it was horrific. You’re in the eye of the storm, it was horrible. You think you are going to lose your son. We had only just got to know him – he was eight months old, and we thought that was it.
“That was the worst bit – when they gave him the pre-meds and the gas and air and they took him out of the room and you just thought that was goodbye."
Thankfully, Danny is now a healthy teenage boy. He still regularly attends hospital for a yearly checkup.
Dominic added: "He's absolutely fine now. At the time it's the most horrific thing to have to go through as a parent and obviously as a child, but he's football-mad now, he's completely fine.
“He has check-ups once a year for the rest of his life, but thankfully Leeds Royal Infirmary were great and the children's heart surgery fund have been great."
As ever, we'll continue to bring you the big Emmerdale news about what is happening in the village and away from it. You can visit our Emmerdale homepage to find the latest gossip about the soap and its stars.
Emmerdale airs weekdays from 7.30pm on ITV1.
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