Rosie Marcel broke down in tears as she admitted being "really angry" about her ‘Holby City’ mental health plot.
The 42-year-old actress – who plays Jac Naylor in the BBC drama – confessed she "didn’t want to do" her character’s mental health storyline because it was so close to home.
After watching a clip from Tuesday’s (03.12.19) episode on ‘This Morning’, Rosie got emotional and said: "It’s hard for me to watch … no, it was a really difficult decision to play this storyline for me.
"A really difficult decision – I didn’t want to do it. I won’t lie about it, I was really angry about it because I actually thought I was exactly the wrong person to be doing this storyline. The wonderful Kate Oates had a very long conversation with me about it.
"Between the two of us, we found a way to do it."
Rosie spoke openly about her own struggles with mental health and how the life of her character – who reaches her breaking point after she gives up her child and her sister is shot – intertwined with her own.
She said: "It’s very similar to my own situation, it wasn’t healthy for me to be around my own child for a certain period of time.
"Jac just gave away her child because it wasn’t healthy for her to be around her child. That’s a really tough thing to do and in the end I just decided to play it through my own experience and so I just played it as me."
Rosie signed herself up for weekly therapy sessions to power through the plot, and sticks to a healthy routine.
She added: "Through therapy sessions, I try and exercise, I try and keep myself as healthy as possible. I talk about it, I try to get out there and talk to as many people as possible. I’m not shy about talking about it because it really helps, and just generally taking care of yourself."
However, the ‘Holby’ star – who has four-year-old daughter Beau with husband Ben Stacey – has found the storyline difficult to watch.
Rosie said: "It just became a very important story to tell, not just for people who have mental health problems but also for me in particular, because I’m a woman and I struggle with it myself and having a child and going to work and not seeing that child.
"It really resonated with me, I found it really tough and I still find it really tough now to watch and it was four or five months ago."
Following the dramatic storyline, Rosie admits she wants to spend more time with her family.
She said: "It’s coming to a point now where I think I really do need to spend some time with my daughter.
"She misses me, she’s four going on five. She knows I don’t take her to school, she knows I don’t pick her up from school. I’m missing all of that."
Rosie Marcel broke down in tears over Holby City’s mental health plot
