Coronation Street Blog: Mikey North interview: Gangster Gary to marry Maria?

Maria and Gary have had a tough time recently, are they there for each other or has it driven a wedge between them?

I think they’ve definitely come together through these hard times, losing the baby has been really tough but they’ve stuck together. The circumstances in which they got together weren’t ideal but they’re growing closer over time.

Do you think Maria is the woman for Gary or do you think he still has feelings for Sarah?

I think as time goes on he is growing to love Maria more and more. I think his future is with Maria but he’ll always have some feelings towards Sarah, I think she was the love of his life, he lost everything for her and that is where his downward spiral started. I think there’ll always be some unfinished business there with Sarah which hopefully we’ll revisit at some point.

Maria’s had doubts about Gary’s dodgy dealings in the past but Gary is trying to put that behind him isn’t he?

Yes he turned nice for a month!

So are his plans to propose to Maria spur of the moment?

I think after losing the baby it’s a show of solidarity. He’s put his loan sharking ways to bed, he’s sent Ryan out to collect the last of the money, then Gary gives him a job to go and pick up something, which is the engagement ring. Maria sees them handing stuff over and thinks there’s some sort of dodgy dealings going on but it is actually genuine.

Unbeknownst to Gary, Maria has turned to Ali and it looks like she’s falling into his arms again, how do you think Gary would react if he was ever to find that out?

There’s only one way that Gary reacts and that’s with his fists. Should he find out about it they’ll definitely come to blows.

Would there be any way he could forgive Maria?

Gary’s no angel and he’s lied to Maria for a long time so unless he’s being a real hypocrite then maybe he could forgive one misdemeanour.

As Gary’s about to propose, Maria comes back to the flat and confronts Gary about his supposed dodgy dealings, what happens?

She’s seen Ryan passing him something and she thinks he’s up to no good again, so Gary gets Ryan and Ike (the loan shark customer) to come round and tell Maria the truth. She doesn’t really believe it though and Gary’s left not really knowing where to go from here.

Does it mean a lot to Gary to prove himself to Maria?

Yes absolutely, I do think that he's really determined to make this his fresh start, put the past behind him and move on with Maria. I think he has seen the error of his ways but if he were to find out about Maria and Ali I think that could send him off the rails again.

Do you think Gary can put the past behind him or do you think he’s too far down the wrong path?

I don’t think it’s too late yet, he hasn’t killed anyone in cold blood, but things are slowly spiralling, he’s pushing his boundaries that bit further over time. At some point I feel that something will tip the balance one way or the other, something will force his hand. He’s still got a body in the woods and that won’t stay buried forever I imagine. Maybe it’s only a matter of time before things catch up with Gary!

Are you enjoying playing the different sides to Gary?

Yeah, I’ve had some really good stuff recently, I love the scenes in the furniture shop, it’s like a different world that Gary moves in, the scenes are written slightly differently for him in there and the scenes all feel quite heightened. I enjoy the scenes with Ryan too as well as playing Gary’s darker side then his softer side with Maria. Samia’ been amazing in all the emotional scenes recently. Gary took out a lot of his anger on Daniel but the baby loss did really affect him and now he just wants to be there for Maria.

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Glenda Young

Author of dramatic, historical novels with Headline