Jeff Hordley has spoken candidly about his future in Emmerdale after the announcement he is being replaced as Cain Dingle for a one-off special.
Jeff Hordley, 52, has played Emmerdale fan favourite since 2000 and has an army of fans. Over the festive period, coinciding with the arrival of Will Ash, 45, playing Cain Dingle’s long-lost brother, the soap’s boss Jane Hudson has announced plans for a special episode of the soap.
Jane explained: “Poor Cain is still in prison. He will get a visit from his brother on Christmas Day called Caleb - played by Will Ash. I last worked with Will about 14-years-ago when I produced Waterloo Road so when our casting director suggested Will for Caleb I was absolutely transfixed. He’s absolutely brilliant and I think the viewers will fall in love with him.
Read more: Jeff Hordley to be replaced as Cain Dingle for one-off special
“When Caleb visits Cain in prison we will discover Cain knew Caleb exists and he’s known about him for 30 years and on Boxing Day we will rewind to 1992 and we will discover how Cain and Caleb first met. Why Cain then rejected him from his life and what was going on with Chas at that point.
“We have three fantastic actors playing our young Cain, Caleb and Chas. Aiden, the actor who played Cain, he actually studied lots of footage of Jeff and his positions, poses and how he speaks and it is incredible when you watch it. There’s one pose, in particular, when he leans against a wall and you are left feeling ‘that’s Jeff’. It is so bizarre, it is a brilliant rewind episode that will explain a lot about their family history.”
Speaking at an Emmerdale press event, soap Jeff legend has spoken about welcoming his childhood friend Will to the cast, as his younger brother in the soap, as well as the upcoming special flashback episode. The star was honest enough to share he had a little bit of trepidation hearing the plans.
Jeff explained: “Initially, I thought they are bringing in a younger Dingle. I thought are they trying to replace me? You always get a little protective of your character when you here they are bringing in a similar character.
“Then when I heard it was Will I was like ‘this is great’ and it is the best thing which could have happened. It feels like Caleb has been here for a long time. The character is written so well and he’s got a charm which WIll brings across really beautifully.”
Jeff also said he enjoyed working with the young actor who will be seen playing Cain Dingle in the one-off Emmerdale special. Jeff explained: “We were lucky enough to get to meet them (the acting talents playing the younger versions of the Dingle clan). We watched them do a scene and we watched them do a scene. They asked us questions.
“The young actors were absolutely brilliant. I was speaking to Jane (Hudson) before and she was saying ‘the guy who plays Cain has got all your mannerisms’. He’d really studied what I do as Cain.”
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