Liam Fox is keen to bring attention to "amazing" young carers with his most recent ‘Emmerdale’ storyline.
The 50-year-old actor stars as Dan Spencer in the ITV soap, who has recently found himself wheelchair bound after a freak accident, leaving his teenage daughter Amelia as his chief carer.
And Liam has said both he and Daisy Campbell – who plays Amelia – were "excited" to take on the important plotline, because the struggle of young carers across the UK is a vital issue that needs highlighting.
He said: "Me and Daisy were excited, because it’s a big story for us both. It’s a real working-class thing, to see somebody on their uppers like this. When this plot was in the early stages, we had a meeting with some people from The Joseph Rowntree Foundation [an organisation working to solve UK poverty], and met some young carers. It was amazing to see how much these kids have to do, and they don’t get any help – there were kids the same age as Amelia who are living lives they really shouldn’t have to live."
Liam’s character is now in a wheelchair, and the actor said using the disability aid on set has helped him understand the process of living with a disability.
He added: "It’s weird how quickly you get used to [using a wheelchair], and it does immediately give you an idea of what it’s like for Dan. Unknowingly, people have discussions above your head – nobody’s trying to ignore you, yet you kind of go, ‘Oh, I’m not in this conversation because I’m in the chair’. It makes the process of playing Dan’s disability easier, as the feelings just come naturally when you’re sitting in that chair."
And Liam is pleased audiences have reacted "positively" to the story.
Speaking to Inside Soap magazine, he said: "People have been quite positive. You always get the odd one or two who go, ‘Oh, Dan’s moaning again!’, yet with a heavy storyline you’re going to have good days and bad, so I try to keep as much lightness as I can. So far, it has come across okay. My mum likes it, anyway, and she doesn’t mince her words!"