Yahoo News Emmerdale's Matty star says 'I'm so proud' amid emotional connection to soap wedding after own transition
Emmerdale star Ash Palmisciano has shared his pride at being involved in a soap first as he's set to tie the knot on-screen. Ash, who plays Matty Barton in the ITV soap, is the first-ever transgender actor to appear on Emmerdale and his character is also the first character written into the show to have transitioned.
Ash, who was assigned female at birth and decided he wanted to transition in 2012, wasn't originally cast in the role of Matty. He was called in by the soap to consult on the upcoming transgender storyline, however, after catching the producer's attention when he said he was an actor, he was asked to audition for an on-screen role instead and, as we know now, he got it.
He made his debut in the ITV soap in 2018 when he took over the role from Grace Cassidy, who portrayed Hannah Barton from 2009 to 2012, before the character's transition to Matty.
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Now, Ash is getting to experience another 'first' in soap as Matty marries girlfriend Amy Wyatt, played by Natalia Ann Jamieson. Ahead of the scenes airing on Wednesday night (April 17), the 34-year-old told the Manchester Evening News and other press what the storyline means not only as a love story but also as a representation of the trans community.
"It’s been a long time coming," Ash told us of Amy and Matty's wedding. "They’ve been friends in the past and then they’ve come together, they were going to get engaged and life got in the way and stuff but I think it was nice for these two characters to have that moment and you’ll see what it means - especially in Matty’s vows - for them to be together.
"It’s really exciting and it obviously opens up their future together and what happens next. Obviously, like in soaps, it’s not always plain sailing so you’ll have to wait and see what’s around the corner but me and Nat have worked together for a long time now and it was lovely to do something together that was just focused on them and we had such a good day…"
Ash went on to say: "I am so proud. As a young kid growing up, watching TV, I remember watching Brookside’s first lesbian kiss and how iconic that was and what impact that had on society and so then that became seen everywhere and that became quite normal. Although we’ve still got a long way to go in terms of, there’s always going to be prejudice in our society, [but] seeing these things in our everyday culture and everyday society make monumental change."
He explained: "For me growing up, there was no one on TV who was trans or if they were, it probably wasn’t the best image of a trans person, they weren’t seen as an everyday person who had a normal job, had a normal relationship, had really positive representation so to me, this is a dream come true to be able to become the person I needed to see and to play such a positive representation is unheard of.
"It’s never been done in soap before so I feel like I’ve won a bit of a Top Trump there that I can always look back… I think it’s iconic and I’ve had people message me already, even with the Claudette stuff, thanking me and saying, ‘My nan’s said this or my family’s said that and I can’t tell you how much it’s helped'. So that for me it becomes more than a job, it becomes something much bigger so it’s been so exciting to do. I’m really proud of it."
