Jonathan Wrather reveals all about Pierce's dramatic entrance on Emmerdale

I was lucky enough to catch up with Jonathan Wrather ahead of his debut on the popular soap Emmerdale which was broadcast earlier tonight. Jonathan plays Pierce Harris whose wife Tess has just died after being struck by a car with the driver fleeing the scene. Unknown to Pierce his wife had been having an affair with Paddy who is married to Rhona. Emmerdale can be seen on ITV each weeknight at 7pm with a second episode on Thursday evenings at 8pm.

Did you know any of the cast before you joined the show?

Yes one or two. I worked with Chris Bisson a long time ago on Coronation Street and with Bill Ward as well on the same show.

Is it weird coming onto the show where Pierce’s wife is killed off before you had the chance to work with the actress who played her?

I never got the chance to meet the actress who played her. We never got to have any screen time together what so ever but Pierce is spoken of and when you actually go to our house the only time you saw me there was in a photograph in the background.

Can you tell me more about the character?

He is kind of shell shocked and it is a maelstrom of grief and then it shifts. It is very intricate as the story kind of pans out and it shifts from one thing to another. It is very well written in the sense that we get to play out these little intricacies and that is one of the great things about this show.  It is so well written that you get all these scenes, some long scenes and some little vinaigrettes and it gives you a realistic insight into how someone reacts to something right there in the moment.

It could go any number of ways and when we first meet him properly and we get to see a little bit of what he is like he is quite obsessive about what the hell went on and you can emphasise with that because the circumstances under which he arrives. He is very career orientated and this is a catalyst to say ‘oh what have I done, the most important thing in my life is now gone’.

Can we expect to see any more members of Pierce’s family in the near future like at this wife’s funeral?

We don’t get to see anyone from Pierce’s family at all right now.

To find out more about the mysterious Pierce don't forget to watch Emmerdale every weeknight on ITV.