The Irish Sun - Thursday 18th November 2010

Fair City's Suzanne on Violent Storyline

Fair City's Suzanne has shocked viewers with her controversial hubby-beating storyline but in real life she's a perfect doting wife.

Actress Sarah Flood is enjoying the challenge of portraying her character's violence against love rat Damien.

However the petite blonde, 29, says the scenes with co-star Maclean Burke are nothing like her relationship with her real-life husband.

Sarah said: "This is a new challenge for me to sink my teeth into. And it's great to get the chance to be roaring and shouting, because Suzanne isn't usually like that. You can really let loose but it's very hard to play, I could never be that kind of person."

"It's very draining because there are a lot of emotions and it's also very tiring being so physical. Any time I have to act out those scenes I'm absolutely exhausted afterwards."

Sarah, who has a daughter Jennifer, nearly two, with husband Larry, revealed he's been getting teased by his pals ever since her violent storyline began.

She laughed: "He's getting a worse time than I am from all his mates, they tell him 'Be careful now'. But he knows I'm the exact opposite of what she's like.

Sarah is also pleased that she can help highlight an issue that is rarely discussed in public. She revealed: "I was shocked when I was told about the storyline, but it's good to get the chance to raise the issue. I did a lot of research beforehand and cases of domestic violence towards men have been on the rise the past couple of years."

"I was in the supermarket recently and I was approached by a woman who told me that kind of thing doesn't happen. I had to explain to her that it really does."

Bruises

Sarah says Maclean has so far remained unscathed from her on-screen beatings, bar one or two bruises.

She said: "The first scene with the snooker cue was the first one. We had to shoot that a good few times before we got it right."

"Maclean came in one day with a couple of bruises on his arm and I asked him how he got them He said 'You gave them to me'. I think he was only messing."

Despite Suzanne's out of character behaviour, Sarah hopes that in time she can once again capture the hearts of viewers.

She said: "I'll have to leave it in the hands of the scriptwriters. I would never excuse it but I just hope that given the lengths of time Suzanne's been there, that people will understand that this is something much deeper than just anger, she needs help."

For information or support for male victims of domestic violence visit amen.ie