Adam Woodward says portraying his latest ‘Hollyoaks’ abuse storyline has changed his life.
The ‘Oaks’ star admits it has "been an honour" to take on the hard-hitting plot, in which his character Brody Hudson and Ollie Morgan (Aedan Duckworth) revealed Buster Smith (Nathan Sussex) had been grooming and abusing them.
When asked how the whole experience has been, he replied: "Incredible, amazing and life-changing. It’s been an honour to take on this challenging storyline and be involved in something so important.
"It was important to me to do justice to this storyline for the victims of abuse in real life. I’ve tried my best to emulate someone in that emotional head space."
Buster’s trial will take place in next week’s ‘Hollyoaks’ when a number of villagers attempt to help to bring justice to his victims.
Aedan admits the trial will be "really difficult" for Ollie, but the 17-year-old star is pleased to have been thrown "straight into the deep end" at ‘Hollyoaks’.
He said: "I have been thrown straight into the deep end from the get go. However reflecting on it, it’s been the best way to join such a fast-paced show, especially with such relevant and powerful storylines. Essentially, preparing me in the best way for future storylines.
"I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of a very serious, relevant story. Despite Ollie’s journey being very dark, the response has been a complete contrast, with an increase in male survivors speaking out. As far as my personal experience with the storyline, it’s been a realisation that there is more to acting than just entertaining."
Adam previously revealed he sat down with a psychologist for five hours to research the abuse storyline.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "We were working with Survivors Manchester and the head of that is a psychologist and I sat down with him for five hours.
"The pair of us sat down and we really delved into the details of the psyche of both a victim and their abuser and that really helped me massively."