What is Josh’s attitude towards David and what has happened?
Josh is getting sick of David because he has been making threats about going to the police and he’s also concerned that David has broken up with Shona because he needs him to pull it together.
What happens when Josh intimidates David about breaking up with Shona?
Josh says to David, ‘What are you doing? You need to pull it together,’ and David makes a threat to Josh and Josh sees more of a volatile comeback from David. So Josh is more fearful now that David will say something.
What did Josh expect was going to happen after the rape? Did he expect that David would keep quiet?
Yeah he wants David to hush up because Josh isn’t going anywhere, he likes it there so he wants to stay.
How is Josh feeling about the boxing event?
He is looking forward to it as it is a chance for him to get closer to the rest of the street, it’s his big thing that he has organised and it’s a chance to get closer to Alya too. It ties him in and keeps him involved with everyone and the more involved he is then there’s more of a chance that if anything is spoken badly of him that people are not going to believe it, it’s very tactical.
Tell us what happens when Tyrone pulls out of the boxing match.
When Tyrone pulls out, it’s the first time that people at work see a different side to Josh. The calm, jokey, jovial lad who will sort anyone out now flips out at Tyrone for the first time because the stress of organising the boxing and what has happened with David gets to him.
What happens when David suggests that he takes Tyrone’s place?
David comes along and says, “I’ll do it,” and Josh loses his rag at him. He doesn’t want David anywhere near this event, epilepsy or not, so he is very dismissive.
Is Josh worried that David will tell someone what happened?
There is an inner turmoil definitely but he is always just trying not to let his mask slip.
How does Josh feel when David beats up Gary?
Josh is revelling in it because this is more ammo for Josh to prove that David is full of rubbish if anything ever comes out. If David is the type of person to do that then he is obviously unhinged.
What were your first thoughts when you were told about this storyline?
I thought it was an issue that is not really spoken about and it’s a story that needs to be represented. I was totally on-board, there have been times when I have been playing scenes and it has been tough but I’ve never had a problem with the storyline.
Has it been hard to get in to Josh’s headspace?
Yes but not for the scenes of the rape because in Josh’s mind he just wants sex and his objective was very clear; that’s what he wanted and that’s what he got. It’s the aftermath of it; Josh’s thought process and the manipulation games. I have spoken to Duncan from Survivors Manchester about the traits that rapists have and tend to show, obviously everyone is different, but there are familiar manipulation games that those kind of people play and that is common throughout different cases.
Why is it an important story to tell?
There is on average around nine thousand men raped every year and how often is that told? It is an underfunded, under represented and unspoken about issue. It needs to be seen as something that doesn’t just happen to gay men and something that doesn’t just happen in prison. It’s not that there are a lot of misconceptions, there is no conception, it’s not spoken about.
What do you want this storyline to achieve?
I hope this story raises awareness and also to get through to people who may go down the path that Josh has.
Has anyone from Coronation Street given you advice?
Connor McIntyre gave me some great advice and told me to just focus on the storyline, do it justice and the best job I can do.
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Interesting advice from Connor McIntyre, as it implies that he wasn't too happy about some of the story lines he was forced to act.
ReplyDeleteIf David was smart, he would've tricked Phelan earlier into thinking that Josh saw or knows something that he shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again with the writers setting it up so David the victim becomes the villain and won't be believed.
ReplyDeleteI hope for the sake of viewers and male rape victims that this storyline isn't dragged out like Phelan's was.
David has been through enough already AND I don't want to see months of Josh torturing him pushing him to another breakdown.