Simon Haines may have rejected Emmerdale job if Owen Michaels role was long-term
Simon Haines may not have agreed to play Owen Michaels in Emmerdale if the role was long-term.
Emmerdale star Simon Haines may have rejected the soap job if his role were long-term.
In July, the actor made three appearances as the villainous Owen Michaels, who was on a date with Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) before he spiked Robert's drink, which caused John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) to intervene.
John later found Owen unresponsive in his home, but decided to leave Owen to die so John could frame him for the murder of Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter).
Simon knew Owen would die before joining the ITV soap, and the short stint in the Dales appealed to the star because it did not block him from pursuing other projects.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "From the start, we always knew that Owen was going to die. That was part of the deal.
"And I think for me, it would have been a very different decision if it were an offer for a role that was going to be there for a long time.
"I had various other things coming up that I was really excited to do, including feature film stuff. So to be honest, it was perfect."
Simon declared the hard-hitting spiking storyline on Emmerdale was "one of the most challenging parts I've played", but thanked his "amazing acting coach" for helping to bring Owen to life.
Rather than "play [the character] like a pantomime and let the audience know this is a bad person", Simon felt it was useful to see the world from Owen's perspective to explain why the character got to a wicked stage in life.
Simon read "a lot of academic studies" on why people commit crimes like spiking, and he hopes the research he did helped to do the storyline justice.
He said: "People have experienced that, and I hope that it was done sensitively.
"But the other side of it is that there are people who are out there perpetrating those sorts of crimes, and the aim for me as well is for it to be something where someone sees themself, and it helps them think, 'OK, I shouldn't do this.'"
Despite the challenging storyline, Simon - who never planned to star in a soap - adored his time on Emmerdale.
He said: "It was really fun being in the village, visiting the Woolpack and even Home Farm briefly.
"It was fun, and I used to watch it as a kid, and some of the actors who were in it when I was a kid are still in it now.
"It was very exciting for my family, who love the show. And for me, it was amazing."
