Only Fools and Horses

The daughter of Only Fools and Horses legend who turned down a role that made Julia Roberts an icon

The character of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman could have looked very different had things turned out this way

Only Fools and Horses fans will still adore the character of Trigger, played by Roger Lloyd Pack in the iconic comedy from 1981 to 2003. Following his role in the show, Roger went on to star as the seedy farmer Owen Newitt in Vicar of Dibley, ruthless Ministry of Magic functionary Barty Crouch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and evil megalomaniac John Lumic in Doctor Who. He died aged 69 in 2014.

But it seems he wasn’t the only acting talent in the family as Roger’s daughter, 52-year-old Emily Lloyd-Pack, known as Emily Lloyd, quickly rose to Hollywood fame herself back in the 80s. At only 16 years old Emily had the world at her feet and received a Bafta nomination for her dazzling performance as troubled teenager Lynda in Wish You Were Here.

 

Emily Lloyd and her father Roger Lloyd-Pack pictured together in 2012 (Image: Stuart Wilson)

Along with her father Roger, her grandfather was the stage and film actor Charles Lloyd-Pack, and her mother Sheila Hughes was a theatrical agent who worked for Harold Pinter. Inundated with film offers after her success on Wish You Were Here, Emily moved to Manhattan when she was 17 years old and starred in the 1989 films Cookie and In Country.

However, in 2015, Emily opened up to the Daily Mail about how her mental health suddenly deteriorated in her late teens. During this period of her life, the actor had to turn down a number of roles due to mental health and other reasons- including the lead role in Pretty Woman.

She told the Mail: “At that time I was inundated with scripts. I made the film In Country with Bruce Willis, then signed on to star in Mermaids, the story of teenager Charlotte Flax and her unconventional upbringing in small-town Massachusetts in 1963.”

Emily said offers were flooding in for a variety of projects, and so many of them clashed with the scheduling for Mermaids that she had no choice but to turn them down.

She said: “One was the part of a prostitute opposite Richard Gere in a film called Pretty Woman. The role went instead to Julia Roberts.”

Emily Lloyd stars as the wayward seaside teenager in the film Wish You Were Here. (Image: Channel 4)

Emily was dropped from the 1992 film Husbands and Wives as her deteriorating health affected her ability to work and was also replaced in the 1995 film Tank Girl.

After filming Under The Hula Moon in 1995, Emily said she ‘knew it was time to go home’. She said the longer she stayed back in Britain, ‘the more the good roles dried up’, and from being able to afford a decent house in Venice Beach, she couldn’t afford her own place in London.

Emily moved into a housing association flat in Hackney at 29 and was in and out of Homerton Hospital with severe mental health issues for years. But by 2013, Emily’s health began to stabilise. That same year she published an autobiography, Wish I Was There.

She told the Mail in 2015: “The most recent years have been calm and stable for me. A combination of the medication and coming to terms with my condition have made this possible.” She added: “I’m ready to reconnect now. Maybe this time my wings might not get singed.”

Emily has gone on to star in other movies including Hey Mr. DJ (2003), Riverworld (2003), and The Honeytrap (2002.

Her most recent credit is playing Yvonne in the 2021 movie No Reasons, which also starred former EastEnders actor Marc Bannerman and Only Fools star Daniel Peacock.

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