Emmerdale's Alexander Lincoln who plays the soap's Jamie Tate has opened up about the tough filming schedules on the ITV soap.
Alexander played the part of Jamie, the son of Kim and Frank Tate for a few years until 2021. Jamie left the soap after he had been presumed dead after a car crash - but his body was never found.
He admitted he often feels 'anxious' about his acting career, including when he faces 'intense' filming days and downtime between filming.
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The actor admitted it was difficult filming for such a long amount of hours and jumping between scenes, as he explained how he can be expected to be on camera for up to 11 hours a day filming multiple scenes - and yet actors still get a "bad rep".
In a chat with Entertainment Focus, he said: "You said it before, soap actors do get a really bad rap but it is one of the most intense jobs I think you can do with acting. It is 10/11 hours a day. I shot 19 scenes one day, which is insane."
He added: "I did this thing recently for the BBC and they would shoot maybe two or three scenes a day, so comparatively, you’re like, ‘oh my god, that’s amazing!’.
"You’d be in every scene of the 19 scenes as well so every evening you’re going home and you’re learning lines and you’re anxious about the next day because you haven’t really had a chance to fully get into it."
He added in a positive side to the job as he said: "But in the same brushstroke, you know the character inside out because you’ve been playing it for so long. There’s ups and downs to all of it."
Alexander admitted that as well as the intense filming sometimes causing anxiety, he also becomes anxious of extended lengths of downtime in between filming.
He said: "Soap work is regular and in acting you never get regular work generally. Going from the high intensity 10 to 11 hour days every day of the week to doing a project for a month, maybe less … your downtime is a lot longer in between.
"For me, it’s been finding hobbies in the meantime because you can become so anxious about the next thing. I found myself not focusing on the downtime and enjoying that time, and just sitting with it and experiencing life as it is."
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV and the ITV Hub
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