Michael Wildman says his mum will be the only person “gutted” his 'Emmerdale' character Al Chapman was killed off.
Emmerdale’s Michael Wildman says his mum will be the only person gutted that Al Chapman is dead
The 47-year-old actor admits his mother Kate - who is a huge fan of the ITV soap, which is marking 50 years with a number of dramatic deaths - will be "crying like crazy" at his alter-ego's passing on the programme.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "My biggest thing now is picking up the pieces for mum, as she is going to be crying like crazy. But I don't think many others are going to be gutted Al is dead."
Michael - who has played Al for three years and is the fourth person to die as part of the 50th milestone episodes - always knew there was a time limit to his stint on the soap, due to playing a villain.
He said: "I've never been under any misconceptions about playing a villain in a soap.
"There is a passage of time and over the last year I felt things were coming to a head because there was less reason for him to be there.
"His son Ellis had gone and so when our executive producer rang me to say, 'We are thinking of letting Al go,' I told her, 'I am with you – so long as Al doesn’t leave in a taxi.'
"I wanted Al to go out with a bang, and last night he most definitely did.
"I am so pleased. It's been brilliant to be part of the 50th celebrations and it’s a great time to die.
"I've died three or four times with different characters I've played over the years. But the difference is this is a character who I have given life to for some time. Al is much dearer to me than other characters I’ve said goodbye to."
Tagged in Stephen Spielberg