Patsy Kensit has said her Emmerdale role “changed my life” after making a dramatic return to the soap nearly two decades on. The 58-year-old British actress reprised her character as the scheming Sadie King on the ITV series.
Return to the Dales
She first appeared as the devious former wife to Jimmy King for a two-year stint from 2004 to 2006, where she drove many dramatic storylines, including a house explosion and high-stakes affairs with a young Robert Sugden and Cain Dingle.
Speaking during a press roundtable, she said: “It’s a role that I’ve really cherished and I’m very protective about her. It changed my life when I did it, 20 odd years ago. It’s just wonderful to be back for a little while and just get to say all those horrible things to people. I’m pathologically polite so it’s wonderful to live vicariously through this woman who seems to have no shame in her game, but does she really have what she had before when she left?”
Dramatic plotlines
Kensit praised the script for being “beautifully written” with many nods to moments from the first time she appeared on the show, including her dramatic arrival to the Dales – via helicopter. “I’m loving it,” she said. “I’ve been here a couple of months now. It’s flown by.”
The return of her mischievous character comes moments after her former husband, Jimmy, died in a car crash. As his wife, Nicola King, played by Nicola Wheeler, mourns her loss, Sadie reveals that she has been in a secret relationship with Jimmy for the past three years, which is met with a slap across the face.
On-set experience
The actress said she was “absolutely shitting” herself during her first few days on set but felt very welcomed and reassured by the rest of the cast – including Wheeler, who she described as “phenomenal”. She said: “I get a wallop. It’s very funny.”
Kensit, who shares a son Lennon with ex-partner Liam Gallagher, is also known for playing Faye Morton in Holby City between 2007 and 2019. She also starred in 1974’s The Great Gatsby, 1979’s Hanover Street, 1986’s Absolute Beginners and 1989’s Lethal Weapon 2. Kensit will be on the show until December, however, hopes her character does not get killed off to keep the door open for another return in the future. Emmerdale is on at 8pm on weeknights on ITV1 and STV.
