Coronation Street Blog: Julia Goulding interview: Shona held hostage by Clayton

What’s led to Shona finding herself being held hostage by Clayton?
Clayton tracks Shona down and asks her to help him on the run. She takes the money from David’s tin and meets up with Clayton in an abandoned building because she wants to be the positive light for her son and begs him to hand himself in but when Clayton tries to escape he realises the place is surrounded by police. He feels he has no choice but to hold Shona hostage and he threatens to kill her if the police don’t mean his demands.

This is the week where Shona has to choose between her past and her future.
Yes, this is definitely the most tested Shona has ever been and is ever going to be. She makes decisions with her heart and not her head but she always wants to do the right thing.

How confident is Shona that she can help Clayton do the right thing?
Shona is confident that she knows who Clayton is but does she? It’s very dangerous because she can’t work out Clayton’s next move and that’s when her confidence shifts and her survival instinct kicks in.

Tell us about the tender moment Shona and Clayton share.
It’s one of the pivotal moments in the whole siege. She hugs him, she is holding her baby and she knows the person that she has been trying to get him to be for the whole siege is right there in her arms.

What makes her go from being in that headspace to trying to escape?
She knows by this point that he is lost to her and she has to make that survival instinct so the second that she hears the knife fall to the floor she knows that it is her only chance. She legs it out but that’s when she sees the guns.

Shona is faced with a wall of armed officers - why does she decide to go back for Clayton? How torn is she?
Shona’s maternal side comes out. She has just had her baby in her arms but then she runs out and she sees the guns and she’s straight back in there even though she knows it is probably not going to end well. But as a mother, she can’t see her son be killed; people are pointing machine guns at her baby.

In those moments, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions for Shona. As an actor, what was that like to play?
It was really scary because when I came out and there’s all the police and all the cars, it really got me in the zone. It would have felt wrong for Shona to leave Clayton because even as myself, the actor, it would have felt wrong. Naturally as soon as I ran out, I was immediately backing away back indoors.

Do you understand why Shona goes back in for Clayton?
Yes, I kept trying to think if it was my mum who had done this horrific thing, I would still forgive her because it’s that unconditional love and I would still want her to become good, just like Shona believes that in Clayton somewhere is still her little boy.

What was it like to film on location?
It’s hard work but it’s exciting because it allows everyone to push themselves. We work with a fight arranger who makes sure everything is safe and there are ex police officers that play the police officers so they advise on set and they know what would happen in that situation in real life. Working with Callum Harrison is always a pleasure because he is so sweet and we always have a laugh.

Tell us what happens when Shona goes back in for Clayton.
Shona thinks she is going to die. When she staggers out she is in utter shock, it’s all a blur, a dream world and then she collapses. David is reliving the hell of when Kylie died.

Does Shona believe that she will die at the hands of her son?
God, yeah! She is saying her goodbyes on the phone to David, she truly believes that’s it, game over. It’s bonkers because she can’t quite believe that this is happening. She’s tired, she hasn’t slept in twenty-four hours, she’s been there all night, her heads all over the place and she’s not thinking straight. But she absolutely, one hundred percent believes that Clayton is going to kill her.

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