How would you describe Max in 3 words?
Loyal, creative and underneath it all, kind.
Would you be friends with your character in real life?
I think I would, but there are a lot of things I'd have to give him a bit of a telling off about. I need him to grow up a bit, which I think he has been doing recently, but I think that's what I would say to him.
It's a lot of fun for me as an actor to play someone who makes so many mistakes and from a selfish point of view I like when he gets himself into trouble, but I would tell him to grow up and take more responsibility.
What advice would you like to give your character?
Don't put so much of your worth on other people. Max's whole life has been defined by the fact that he doesn’t really have anyone biologically related to him apart from Lily and Harry.
There has always been a search for what he's lost - his biological family - so I would tell him to value his own company too.
We see Max has got an apprenticeship at the hairdressers after deciding college wasn’t for him. Do you see a future for Max as a hairdresser?
I'm not sure because I think at times Max doesn't do too well under pressure. I can see him getting pretty stressed out in the hairdressers but I think it would be an easier route for him than some other careers because his dad's doing it, and obviously Audrey does it, so he has people to give him advice, which is great. I think eventually, his big dream is to work in media and film, but temporarily, I can see him being a hairdresser.
What’s next for Max and Sabrina?
Max is torn in between two people that he cares very much about when Lauren moves into the flat next door to Sabrina. I think Sabrina is a really good influence on Max, she's been responsible for growing him up a lot.
I see it as Sabrina is his head and Lauren is his heart, but I think he's acknowledged that his heart is also with Sabrina a bit. I think Max is realising that actually, just because Sabrina isn’t his first love, doesn't mean that he can't recognise his feelings for her. Even if you marry someone and have children with them, you'll never love anyone like you love your first love. But for Max and Sabrina, I think she's really good for him, so let's hope that they become a little power couple.
Do you think there could ever be a romantic future for Max and Lauren?
I'm not sure - Max and Lauren do have an undeniable bond but I think it's a trauma bond.
We’ve lightly touched on some kind of exposure to abuse for Lauren in that far-right gang, and we obviously know from Max that there's violence that he's traumatised by, particularly in terms of when Max went on the camping trip, and also the psychological abuse.
I think there is that bond where they both understand each other in a way that Sabrina has not been a victim of these things, so she might feel slightly out of the loop in that. Also, again, the fact that Lauren is his first love - there will always be that temptation for your first love.
For me, Max and Lauren's relationship has evolved now to a point where Max sees Lauren as family and feels very protective of her. I think he sees a lot of his mum in her and has that fear of what happened to his mum, happening to Lauren. Like I always say, Max is so loyal that he'll always want to protect her, but will he want to be back with her? I don't know. It depends on the circumstance, I guess.
Even with Sabrina’s ultimatum, it was still too difficult for Max to stay clear of Lauren. Do you think Max feels responsible for Lauren as she doesn’t really have anyone else to depend on?
Absolutely, yeah. I think when the last time we saw Lauren she had her dad and the gang who sadly she'd formed a dependency on. Whereas this time when she's come back, especially whilst she was living with Max, she’s integrated in his family as they have taken Lauren in. He does feel responsible for her because he cares so much about her and she doesn't have anyone else, and particularly after Reece's sentencing, she's found herself on her own and Max is the closest person to her.
We know Max initially didn’t want to come back to Weatherfield, and some people, especially Alya, didn’t want him there. How is Max finding it now? Is the friendships with Gav, Lauren and Sabrina helping him settle back in?
I think at the start Max hoped that he could just make everything okay with Alya and we, as the viewer, knew that was not going to work. I think Max was very naive in that sense and he's learned that he can't just make everything better overnight. He’s kept his distance from Alya and having Gav, Sabrina and Lauren around him has given him his own little circle and support system who he can go to and I think that’s really important.
You and Cait (Lauren) have a really great relationship off screen - how did you become so close?
From when we met we just really got on. I have previously worked with other young people on the show, but I had never worked closely with other people my age - which isn’t a bad thing as I love my on-screen family and everyone I've worked with - but with Cait, we are the same age and we had a storyline together, which was something that I'd never experienced. This got us pretty close, then I was obviously chuffed to hear that Cait was coming back and we've had a great time ever since.
What do you love about Coronation Street?
I just love the multi-generational aspect of it. My favourite thing is the amount of times I've come in and people have just given me so much life advice. I've learned so much from people. Most people my age who are actors are just working with other people their age and they don't get to work as closely with older people, so what I love about it is how responsible everyone feels for each other.
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