EXCLUSIVE: Ex Coronation Street star Paula Lane missed out on three Emmerdale parts before bagging ‘dream’ Ella role

She famously spent six years on the cobbles of Coronation Street as fiery Kylie Platt, but actress Paula Lane says her first ever audition was for a part in rival soap Emmerdale.

Just 22 when she tried for – but failed to land – the role of Gennie Dingle, which would have been her “dream role,” life has come full circle, as she is now playing Dales newcomer Ella Forster. “It feels like it was meant to be,” says Paula, 37, who grew up in Yorkshire, not far from the Emmerdale studios.

“When I was just starting out, my very first audition was for the part of Gennie Dingle, so it’s come full circle. I was still at drama school at the time – I hadn’t even finished my training – and I wrote a letter to them, including a picture. I said I was from Yorkshire, that I was training as an actor and that I loved the show and would love to work there.

“I auditioned to play Gennie and, unfortunately, I didn’t get the part, but then later I went up for a few more roles. I was up for Holly Barton – I was screen-tested for that and got down to the last four – and I then auditioned for another part as a lawyer.” The role of Gennie went to actress Sian Reese-Williams who played her from 2008- 2016 and Sophie Powles was taken on to play Holly Barton in 2009.

Paula, meanwhile, had guest parts in Heartbeat, The Royal and Doctors before being cast as Becky McDonald’s tearaway half-sister Kylie in Coronation Street in 2010. She left the show in 2016 and has spent most of the past eight years working in theatre. But she refused to give up on her Emmerdale dream and last year, when she was on stage in the J M Barrie play Quality Street, she invited the soap’s casting team to come along and watch her.

“It was so different to anything anybody has ever seen me do. I never left the stage and I went through every single emotion with the character, so it was a great showcase,” Paula explains. “Afterwards they got in touch to say they wanted to meet me for the part of Ella. I was extremely flattered. Now, when I’m there filming in the village, I think – ‘oh my gosh, this is just the right fit for me.’ Emmerdale has always been there and at this time in my life it feels very welcome. It’s exactly where I feel I should be right now.”

Paula’s character Ella made her screen debut in January at a ball attended by Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) and Paddy Kirk ( Dominic Brunt). When her boss made rude remarks about Mandy’s outfit, she poured a drink over him, gaining a firm friend in Mandy, but losing her job at the same time.

She went on to land a job at the village doctor’s surgery but now finds herself caught up in a love triangle with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), for the heart of dashing doctor Liam Cavanagh ( Jonny McPherson ). With Chas and Liam finally on the verge of telling each other how they really feel, Ella ends up kissing him first and when she suggests they officially become a couple he is powerless to resist, even though he would secretly rather be with Chas.

Paula says: “In Ella’s defence, she has been getting a lot of attention from Liam, but obviously he’s still got strong feelings for Chas. This is the problem, he can’t quite pick who he wants, so she’s just got caught up in that. I do feel quite sorry for her, because she’s just started this job and she doesn’t want to jeopardise it.”

Meanwhile, Paula promises a big storyline later this year, exploring Ella’s past. “I’m not allowed to say too much, but it will give the audience a really good insight into her, because she’s a bit of a mystery at the moment,” Paula says. “We’ll see her meeting up
with people from her past, which will help explain why she is the way she is.”

Paula, who grew up in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, recalls how her parents separated when she was four and her mum Anne worked hard to make ends meet while raising her and her older sister Nicola. “I never went to an acting class as a child and we couldn’t afford dance lessons – I had to do all that much later on,” Paula explains. “But it means I never take anything for granted.”

After leaving school, Paula applied for eight different drama schools. “It cost £40 a time to audition for them and also the cost of travel to London. My Mum, bless her, put it all on her credit card, but sadly I didn’t get any of them.” Undeterred, she took a job in a coffee shop, saved up and then tried again the following year – this time getting a place at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.

After graduating, she spent two years working in Harrods selling perfume while trying to get her big acting break. In 2009 she narrowly missed out on the role of David Platt’s girlfriend Zoe in Coronation Street, before landing the role of Kylie the following year. During her six years on the cobbles, her shocking storylines included selling her son Max to her sister, an affair with husband David’s brother Nick Tilsley, drug addiction, the murder of Callum Logan and her tragic death on the cobbles after she was stabbed.

Since leaving Coronation Street, she has made guest appearances on television in Call the Midwife and Father Brown, but has mainly worked in theatre, including the UK tour of Kinky Boots. She says: “I’ve got an army of casting people who have backed me from the off, but there are other people that, for whatever reason, don’t want to see you. That can be frustrating when you know you are so right for a part, but it’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

“I didn’t envisage myself doing as much stage work as I did, but actually, the way it pushed me out of my comfort zone was great, so I’m really happy. And while touring has taken me away from home, I wanted to show my children that Mum is going out to work. I’ve always tried to teach them that we have to do that in order to have things and sometimes that means I’ve got to go off for two weeks.”

Away from TV, Paula spends her spare time gardening, running, walking her dog and renovating her home on the Yorkshire/Lancashire borders. She and her actor husband Tom Shaw also run their own children’s drama school Lane Shaw Academy, in Hebden Bridge. Not surprisingly, the couple’s children, Arthur, 9, and Penny, 7, are keen participants.

“Arthur started when he was five and I couldn’t keep Penny away, because she’s only a little bit younger than Arthur, so she actually started at four,” Paula says. “They’ve both worked professionally and they’re auditioning now, which is extremely exciting.” Both children have already appeared on TV in a Dairylea advert playing a brother and sister and Arthur has been in the 2023 film Starve Acre with Matt Smith.

“I’m really proud,” Paula smiles. “But it’s not like we are pushing them or that there’s nepotism involved. It was an open call for the film and we never told anybody that we were Arthur’s parents.” The two children are so keen that they even help Paula learn her Emmerdale scripts.

“They do have a natural flair, “she says. “They enjoy watching us on screen and they even go through my lines with me, much to Tom’s relief, because he gets sick of it. Luckily, they’re more than happy to do it. Maybe one day they’ll be in a soap too – we’ll see!”

*Emmerdale is on ITV and STV weekdays at 7.30pm.