Emmerdale star Jonathan Wrather says the Pierce-Rhona rape storyline has prompted many people to reveal they've suffered similar sexual abuse
Emmerdale actor Jonathan Wrather has revealed his role as a rapist on the ITV soap has prompted a flood of fans to reach out with similar experiences.
The soap star portrays abusive husband Pierce Harris who raped wife Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) on their wedding night in a tense episode back in April.
The harrowing storyline continues with Harris about to face a court case, and the actor has spoken of how it has resonated with those who had been involved in similar abusive relationships in real life.
Jonathan told ITV’s Loose Women: “We’ve had an extraordinary response to it.
“Individuals have written in, some extraordinarily courageous people who have said ‘after watching the scenes this evening or following this story I was able to tell my mother for the first time that I had also been in a relationship of that nature – and thankfully I’m now divorced after four years’.”
“As actors portraying these characters we’re not on any sort of form of crusade, but we are given this story to deal with,” he added.
“We were very aware of that (responsibility) and so much research went into it.
“We tried to portray it as truthfully as possible and the writers and the storylining team, everybody had been superb on all of that,” Jonathan said.
He added research into the story had been 'mentally enlightening'.
“It’s kind of shocking. There is a common perception that the perpetrator is a predatory male dark down a dark alley. It’s not it’s much closer to home and has much more innocuous beginnings. A coercive relationship that then escalates into much more.”
Asked about what the future held for his and Zoe’s characters, Jonathan said: “We’re heading to a court case as you know, that’s where we’re up to in a story.
“There is kind of a duty of care and responsibility to the audience and therefore there will be some form of retribution, but I can’t say. It does have to be realistic.”
