Emmerdale star Michael Parr admits he struggled to learn lines upon his return to the soap

Michael Parr struggled to learn lines when he returned to 'Emmerdale'.

The 38-year-old actor initially played Ross Barton in the ITV soap opera from 2013 until 2018 but returned earlier this year and admitted that it was a bit of a struggle getting back into the fast-paced nature of shooting a serial drama after years of acting on the London theatre scene.

He told Metro newspaper's SixtySeconds column: "Something is different and I can't quite put my finger on it. I don't know if it's because we've got new cast members but there are loads of familiar faces and people who haven't left. It might actually be me the last time I was here I was at the end of my 20s, and now I'm in my 30s, so maybe it's just because I'm in a different space.

"When I was originally on 'Emmerdale', it used to be about finishing work and living for the weekend, but now I want to get back in the house and be warm and cosy and look after myself more.

"What was most daunting was moving back up to Leeds and getting straight back into the show. I'd forgotten how fast 'Emmerdale' moves - the amount of lines. It takes a while to get into that line-learning mind frame.

But the former 'Hollyoaks' star was soon able to slip "back into the swing" of things after a couple of days back at work, even though he had intiailyl suffered from a bit of "anxiety" upon his return.

He said: "I used to be able to learn lines the night before and I thought I could still do that but on my first day I thought, 'I'm having trouble learning one scene!' Once I calmed down and met everyone, I got back into the swing of it and all the anxiety went away.

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