Coronation Street Blog: More Corrie cast members moonlighting

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

More Corrie cast members moonlighting

With Antony Cotton (Sean) in the Celebrity Jungle, Craig Charles (Lloyd) off soon to film Red Dwarf, Andy Whyment (Kirk) to appear in Dancing on Ice, it's now been rumoured in The Daily Star today that Simon Gregson (Steve) has filmed the pilot for a driving show.

So what do you think about Corrie cast memberes filming these things away from Coronation Street? Good idea or bad?

8 comments:

bbhilda said...: I see nothing wrong with it. I think viewers today all know full well that they are just actors, not real people.

In the past they have used the excuse that the public will be confused to see them in other roles, but I think the public are far more sophisticated than that -or at least most of them are.

With the cast as big as it is today, they all have long periods of inactivity where they could be making money elsewhere.; 23 November 2011 at 19:52
Annie said...: It's about time the rules were relaxed a little. Until recently, if you were a series regular, and contracted to the show, you couldn't do anything else. Not really fair. Mind you this doesn't include taking on another acting role - just appearing as themselves...
However, you'll still not see them on the BBC, and that's as it should be :))); 23 November 2011 at 20:19
bbhilda said...: I don't think Craig Charles is appearing as himself in Red Dwarf is he?; 23 November 2011 at 22:08
Tvor said...: I shouldn't think so, bbhilda, and some actors also do panto at Christmas which is stage work as a different character. I'm sure something like Red Dwarf is different, though, as Craig was known for that before Corrie anyway.

I don't see a problem with them doing other things either; 23 November 2011 at 22:11
Glenda Young said...: Good point BBHilda. And Craig Charles does a BBC radio show too (which I lurve!); 23 November 2011 at 22:11
Humpty Dumpty said...: It can get confusing if they're playing another character. When Jerry Morton had the kebab shop, wasn't the actor also a porter in The Royal? If I had watched The Royal, I would have found that a bit odd. I guess it was to do with contractual obligations.; 23 November 2011 at 22:46
Rachel said...: Humpty Dumpty: I believe that although Michael Starke was appearing in Coronation Street and The Royal on television screens at the same time, he was only working on Coronation Street. The Royal episodes were probably filmed much further in advance than Coronation Street, and that due to scheduling viewers saw him in both shows over the same period of time. Hats off to him if he did work on both shows while he was on Corrie ;)

I have to agree with you all that it's good to see a person behind the character. It's been reported before how much Simon Gregson is into cars, that for him to be doing something that could be seen as to presuambly rival TG makes perfect sense. I have nothing against seeing an actor doing something that they have a passion for, rather than "Oh, [this actor/actress] would make a perfect choice to appear in this because they're beautiful/attractive/viewers seem to love them/etc."; 24 November 2011 at 00:44
Anonymous said...: Rachel,

You are correct. There was a delay in the episodes of the Royal being filmed and screened and Michael Starke was only ever working on Corrie for the duration of his time on the soap.

But back to the theme of this post.

I actually think it's a bad idea for them to do other things on television because I think it dilutes the impact of both their characters and Corrie.

I wouldn't have a problem with them being given time off to do stage and theatre work, I just object to them doing other stuff on the telly which is likely to be seen by large numbers.

Also, Antony Cotton is currently appearing on I'm a Celeb which is renowned for Z listers so again I don't think that reflects very well on The Street.; 24 November 2011 at 18:14