Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe left "sobbing" over Mercedes McQueen's stillbirth storyline
"I got that lump in my throat and that was it. By the end of it all, I was a mess," says the actress
Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Metcalfe has revealed that an upcoming storyline that sees her character Mercedes McQueen lose her unborn child left her in "a mess".
Viewers will see a heavily pregnant Mercedes told by doctors that she will be induced in order to give birth following the death of her baby.
Talking about her experiences when reading the scripts, Metcalfe said: "I got that lump in my throat and that was it. By the end of it all, I was a mess. I was just sat their sobbing. When it came to playing it on set I did minimal rehearsals because I didn't want to wear out the true meaning of the words.
"The scripts were written so brilliantly that I didn't have to dig deep to find that level of emotion. The words were all there on the page. I broke down every time."
The C4 soap is working with stillbirth awareness charity Count the Kicks and neonatal charity Sands on the storyline, with the pivotal episode having been written Anna Clements, who has herself experienced a stillbirth.
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"I don't think you can write like that unless you've been through it. I've never read a script like it before," Metcalfe added to the Star on Sunday.
This is the second stillbirth storyline to feature in a UK soap opera in recent months, with EastEnders character Shabnam Masood (Rakhee Thakrar) having experienced the ordeal back in August.
Hollyoaks will broadcast Mercedes's stillbirth storyline in early November.
