Claire King says her ‘King of Crime’ character makes soap superbitch Kim Tate "look like a pussycat".
The 55-year-old actress is to play no-nonsense Yvonne King, the wife of drug lord Marcus King (Mark Wingett), in the crime thriller, and she loved portraying such a "horrible" alter-ego in the movie, because she gets away with so much.
Claire – who plays Kim in ‘Emmerdale’ – exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "She makes Kim Tate looks like a pussycat really. People won’t be surprised taking on Yvonne King.
"The good thing is I’m nothing like these characters. It’s great to get it out there without being horrible in real life. You just do it through your characters you’re given, which is great because you get away with murder. Literally."
Yvonne performs a brutal murder just minutes into ‘King of Crime’ before walking around her house with a blood-stained top on as if nothing has happened, and Claire admits her character’s "over-the-top" nature was partly what attracted her to the film, as well as the "really topical" subject of cybercrime.
She added: "I like the fact she slaughtered somebody before the titles even dropped. It was like, ‘Oh God yeah, this is camp and over-the-top and brilliant.’
"It’s something different and I’ve always wanted to do a nasty character in a film, so it was a good opportunity.
"Also, I liked that it addressed cybercrime, which is the way the whole world is going now. Forget armed forces and sea and weapons and all the rest.
"The main weapon now is the internet, technology and rigging elections and all that sort of thing.
"I thought it was really topical and quite advanced for its years. We actually filmed it two years ago."
Claire – who is to play the Wicked Fairy in panto ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in Stockport this year – suggested former ‘The Bill’ star Mark for the role of her husband in ‘King of Crime’, because they "work really well together".
She said: "I thought Mark Wingett would be great because I’ve done a film with him in Italy, ‘A Reason To Leave’, so I thought if he could be my husband that would be great.
"Because we work really well together, and I thought he’d be fantastic for this."
‘King Of Crime’ will be out in select cinemas from 2nd November and out on Home Ent and Digital release early next year. For more information go to: https://kingofcrimemovie.com/
Claire King: King of Crime character makes Kim Tate look soft
