Gemma Oaten questioned whether \'Emmerdale\' bosses had called in the correct cast member when she was told her character would be the aggressor in a domestic abuse plot.
The 35-year-old star was left shocked by news of the storyline development, and she "broke down in tears" the first time she had to play out her alter-ego Rachel Breckle hitting James Hooton\'s character Sam Dingle.
She said: "One day I was called into a meeting with the producers upstairs and I was given the heads up that I had to find a way to make it believable for this good-hearted woman to start physically abusing the man she loves.
"Because, that\'s where the script is going.
"I was like, \'What now? Why? Have you called in the right cast member?\'
"All of a sudden a person with the job title fight director is working with me on how Rachel should hit her boyfriend Sam Dingle.
"I have hit people before as my character, but I didn\'t mind slapping Jai or punching Megan because they were all against Rachel and that was fine.
"But this was different.
"The first time my character had to hit the actor that plays Sam Dingle I broke down in tears."
Gemma admits she "really struggled" taking the storyline on board and had to try to figure out why her character would do such a horrific thing.
Speaking at a TEDx Talk in Norwich, she added: "I really struggled, and I had to dig deeper to understand why Rachel would do this.
"How could this good-hearted woman physically hurt the one person who she loves more than anything else in the world?"
Gemma was left covered in bruises when she acted out the plot, and admitted the storyline was "scary".
Speaking in 2015, she said: "It\'s a little bit scary and the storyline is a big responsibility because obviously it\'s very close to the bone, and unfortunately affects thousands of people out there."
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