The Marlon Dingle star praised his younger co-stars and discussed his view on his character’s latest decisions
Emmerdale actor Mark Charnock opens up about Marlon’s regret in upcoming episodes as well as admitting that “there’s something wrong with the business” after praising his new co-star.
As a long-standing resident of the Dales, Marlon Dingle first appeared on the ITV soap in 1996 when Mark Charnock signed on to do the role. Since then, he’s had his fair share of tricky storylines including his first wife Tricia dying in a storm back in 2003, and Marlon suffering from a stroke in 2022.
More recently, his teenage daughter April Windsor ran away from home on Christmas Day and her harrowing experience was shared with the audience two months after her disappearance.
In the special episode, viewers learned that April was forced to live in the streets after her original accommodation offer fell through. She then met Dylan who helped her out after she was approached by an older man. Dylan took her to a derelict building and introduced her to Becca who turned into a mentor for her.
Things soon turned sour, however, when Becca died after getting stabbed when chasing a thief who took the little money they had from begging. Later on, Dylan was arrested during a police raid and April was left on her own. While on her own in Leeds, April was suddenly overcome with extreme pain and rushed to the toilets of a gym that she managed to sneak into and tragically had a stillbirth.
In recent episodes, Dylan made his way into the village as April is determined to help him recover and get him safe accommodation, however, Marlon is less keen. Rhona noticed ketamine was missing from the vets’ cabinet and Marlon was quick to point the finger at Dylan.
April feels betrayed by Dylan as drugs go missing from the vets(Image: ITV)
Unfortunately, Dylan overdosed and ended up in hospital which led to Marlon admitting he had orchestrated the whole thing to get Dylan out of April’s life. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News and other press, Mark shared: “He immediately regrets it. He just went blind with trying to get rid of him. He didn’t think of the consequences.
“He should have thought before he jumped and he regrets it immediately especially hearing Dylan has an overdose, which is the most crushing piece of news and Marlon is responsible for that overdose really. I think he knows that so his immediate reaction is he’s got to try and square it and make it up to him. He feels awful.”
The actor went onto admit that “it’s the indescribable confusion trying to understand what they are now, which is a different person to when they left the house”, when it comes to dealing with the reality of a missing person.
He also praised his new co-star Fred Kettle (Dylan), as he shared: “I say this as objectively as I can, he’s one of the best young actors that I’ve worked with. He puts me in mind of many of the great young actors we’ve got on this.
“He’s really into his job, he’s nuanced, he’s clever, he’s attentive, he’s really professional, he’s one of the team, he’s funny, he’s everything you could want in a young actor. As far as I’m concerned, if he doesn’t go a long way there’s something wrong with the business. He’s a really good actor.”
Reflecting on his time working with Amelia Flanagan over the years, Mark revealed that she is “incredible” and “such a clever person”. He continued: “There’s so much going on, that she doesn’t say, that’s done with little tiny gestures. That sometimes you can only just pick out because you have to be quite close. She’s so mature and she’s so professional.
From being very young in this, to 16, it has been an incredible journey watching her turn into the actress she’s become. She’s a proper serious actress and I’m full of respect for her.”
Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
