Emmerdale star Joshua Richards breaks silence on Bear’s devastating story

Emmerdale star Joshua Richards has spoken about Bear Wolf’s dark new storyline for the first time, following the shocking revelation that he’s become a victim of modern slavery. Bear’s story will take centre stage in a special flashback episode on Monday (10 November), which finally reveals what happened to him after he left the village in July.

The special scenes show how Bear was taken in by people who seemed to be kind, offering him “work” in exchange for board and lodgings. Over time, the situation grew increasingly sinister as Bear became injured and frail – and was left entirely at the mercy of his captors…

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We recently caught up with Joshua for a big chat about Emmerdale’s new story shining a light on modern slavery and forced labour.

What was your first reaction when you heard about this story?

“Well, I found it a bit disconcerting and frightening at first, because I wondered: ‘What experience do I have to bring to the table?’ Which is nothing, really! But I also thought it would be interesting, because of course Bear has been experiencing this depression and confusion.

“Maybe it’s a great thing to find him so vulnerable – a big strong man being exploited like this. So as an actor, I rubbed my hands together and pulled my sleeves up to get stuck in.”

How did you prepare for it?

“We can only prepare by reading the script and finding out exactly where the character is going. Luckily, we do have very good writers and very good producers, who can steer you towards the place where you need to be.

“Beautifully up here at Emmerdale, a lot of the design team, the lighting team, the camera team, make-up, costume – everybody has got together to create an atmosphere that is very conducive to letting your imagination run wild.”

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What can we expect from Monday’s Bear-focused episode?

“It’ll be a standalone episode, where we’ll have an explanation of what exactly happened to Bear after he got in his car and drove away from Emmerdale.

“We did see a few weeks after he’d left the village that he was still with his car and not with his friend Gnasher in Ireland at all. So we will find out exactly what happened to him

Bear has always been portrayed as a family man and a fighter. How have you reconciled that with his current vulnerable position?

“Well, funnily enough, we’ve just been talking to the Salvation Army and I’ve been speaking to a lovely gentleman who had been exploited. Basically, it’s something that you can slip into if you’ve been manipulated a certain way.

“Being a certain age as well, where maybe you do think that you’re useless and redundant, someone can step in and convince you that you are worth something and that you do have some kind of currency.

“But ‘currency’ is the operative word. You can be manipulated into a situation that you didn’t envisage seeing yourself in. It’s quite fascinating how these things actually do happen.”

Was there other research involved?

“Well, one fortunate thing for me is that in 2007, I did a play written by John Godber and Jane Thornton from Hull Truck Theatre Company called Sold. That was all about modern slavery, so it’s not a new subject for me.

“It’s something I’ve been aware of for many years – and even before I did that play. It is quite frightening that even as we speak, there are about 40 million people in modern day slavery, which is horrific.”

What do you hope viewers will take away from Bear’s story?

“Soap does have a responsibility to educate and maybe show things that go under the radar, which you may not necessarily see on the main news. Things like Mr Bates vs the Post Office, the blood scandal or various other things have been brought to light by great television drama.

“I think it’s our job to do that. I’m very proud to be part of what ITV is doing with these wonderful writers and the great research which has gone on.

“Hopefully it will prompt something and there will be action. But then again, we don’t hold hope for any government, in light of the other scandals which have gone by and very little has been done.”

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How did you approach filming next week’s flashback scenes?

“That was quite disconcerting because I was told by our producer Laura Shaw a few months ago that I’d be off screen for a while because Bear would disappear. I thought: ‘Oh, I’ll get my P45 now and off I’ll go!’ But they said: ‘No, you’ll be coming back’.

“But in the meantime, Clare Golds in make-up said: ‘Whatever you do, don’t cut your hair and don’t shave your beard. Go raggedy’. So I became a raggedy old man while I was off!

“You first see Bear when he’s at the real bottom, looking really filthy, scraggly and unkempt. I had to grow the beard for around three months, which was all during the heatwave in the summer! Then bit by bit, we took it away and filmed the timeline backwards. I’m now almost back to where I was before.

“But it’s been a very complicated way of portraying various stages in Bear’s journey and very confusing for all of us, because each day I’m in a different time or different part of the story. So it’s been quite exciting and quite weird!”

Do you think this story will affect the audience’s perception of characters like Bear?

“Well, I hope so! I think we are all altruistic people in our hearts – we do care and have compassion when we see somebody suffering. I very much feel that the audiences in Emmerdale are some of the most sympathetic – they’re people who really care about the characters in the soap.

“I do get people coming up to me and saying: ‘How is Bear? We’re worried about him’. You think ‘this is great’ because people who watch this soap really do care. They’ll be furious when they find out what’s been happening to Bear!”

What was the atmosphere like on set when you filmed the scenes where Bear is trapped?

“Well they constructed a set within an existing property up at the village. That’s been absolutely fascinating and they’ve done a beautiful job in dressing and lighting it.

“I’ve been watching some of the rushes from the filming and because of the lighting and muted colours, it’s almost like a Caravaggio painting. There are very dark undertones showing the squalor.

“It’s been quite humbling, really, to find yourself in these situations, albeit a facsimile constructed one. Sometimes you find yourself sitting there thinking: ‘Oh my God, if this was for real, how horrifying it would be’.”

ITV
After doing the research, what are the main messages that you want to get across over modern slavery?

“Be aware that it’s going on under our noses. We all have our cars cleaned and say: ‘Ooh, that’s cheap’. But who are the people cleaning your car? I mean, that’s just a very tiny part of it.

“It’s other things, it’s people who are picking your spuds, it’s people who are fixing your driveway, maybe there’s somebody doing work on your roof. You really don’t know.

“There are bona fide proper people – builders, farmers, other people – out there. But some are in the dark web of life and there are criminals, ready to exploit people.

“The biggest bill you’ll ever get for anything you have done, for example your house extension, is the labour. If criminal gangs can take that essence out – that you don’t have to pay for that labour – then that’s where big profits are made, people are exploited and misery begins.”

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.

Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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