Jeff Hordley reveals the best Emmerdale shot he has ever done as Cain

Jeff Hordley is among the many iconic Emmerdale faces talking about his time on the show playing Cain Dingle ahead of the soap’s 50th anniversary.

A lot has changed for Cain since his arrival. Back at the start of the year, an old episode of the ITV soap aired and we were reminded of the fact he once groomed and had sex with 15-year-old Ollie Reynolds.

From his abusive behaviour right through to the criminal side, whether you like Cain or not, he a complicated and complex member of the Dingle family.

When asked about his most memorable and favourite scenes to film, Jeff had so many to choose from but one storyline stuck out in particular that he loved being a part of because of the challenges – Moira’s (Natalie J Robb) affair with Nate (Jurell Carter), which featured a huge showdown on a boat in the middle of a lake, which resulted in all three characters falling in.

‘I’d never used a regulator before’, Jeff explained.

‘We went into this pool in Leeds and went under with the mask on and took the
regulator out, held my breath and did it again but then as soon as I took the mask off everything got really claustrophobic, I couldn’t see because it suddenly went full blurred. It was really stressful. I went back up to the top and the diving instructor asked me if everything was alright and I had to tell him I felt quite panicked.

He continued: ‘We did a few more sessions and it was fine but I was quite nervous going into that tank. Natalie told me about this book called “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” and I thought about that on the first take we did, it was in Basildon, I thought I can’t wear the mask, I’ve just got to get used to this. The first time I went down, all I could hear was the breathing and it was nice and calm and I was floating down.

‘I was with the diver and I’d got this weight belt on to keep me down there on this platform which Natalie was on. I could see Natalie giving me the thumbs up and on the mic I could hear Rachel, the first assistant director talking and it was really clear under the water which is bizarre, it sounded like she was at a bus stop or on the tannoy at an airport. I went down and grabbed onto Natalie’s leg to get into position for the shot but my body was trying to float up and my breathing was suddenly changing from calm to panicked and I was thinking I can’t do this!

‘But I remembered Feel the Fear And Do it Anyway, held onto Nat and heard action, did the take then went up to the top and thought I’ve done it, there’s nothing to be scared of here and once I’d done that it became one of the best shoots I’ve ever done and the sense of achievement at the end of it was amazing.

‘I think Nat and I would both agree on that. It was a real pat on the back moment for me.’

Reflecting on his time playing Cain so far, suffice to say Jeff loves playing him and exploring new layers as the character gets older:

‘Certainly when I came back after a few years out, layers had been added to the character and they stopped him being this lone operator who lived at the
top of the Dingles who didn’t have any friends. He had been integrated into the village and he started to work at the garage, he became more of a believable character who began to have friends in the village.

‘The few years I’d been out of the show the writers had written a history for
Cain and the brilliant characters he’s interacted with over the years, it keeps adding dimensions to him.’

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