We’ve seen Daisy grow a lot closer to Ryan after the acid attack, after everything they've been through together, is Daniel starting to become aware that maybe there is more to it?
During the trial he felt uncomfortable with how close they were a few times but he didn't have any moral legitimacy at that point, he hadn’t actually seen anything nor did he have any concrete proof. It looked bad on him because all that Daisy seemed to be doing was supporting someone who’d taken acid for her. So he didn't really have any way to make his case before but it's always been there and I think because they’ve dated previously that’s always going to be in the back of Daniel’s mind, these two people have got a connection that predates our connection. So when all this stuff starts to come back up again, it's not a complete shock, I think in the back of his mind he’s already suspected it.
Does he think it's more on Ryan's part, or does he worry that Daisy has feelings for him as well?
I think that as a guy he knows what Ryan might do to get with Daisy and he’s worried Daisy may confuse his attraction for more and think there are stronger feelings there than maybe there are. But as time goes on he sees how vulnerable Ryan is. When Ryan says to him that no one's ever going to find him attractive, Daniel starts to worry that Ryan thinks that Daisy is his only option and so he will go 100% after Daisy because he doesn't think anybody else will be able to love him. So from that perspective Daniel thinks this is a man who’s got nothing else to lose so he's going to be fighting a lot harder.
Daniel's fighting because he does really love her. Do you think after Sinead he ever thought he’d find love again and are his feelings for Daisy that strong?
I think so, yeah. I think the way that they've made this little family unit with Bertie and living together in the Barlows has cemented that she feels like a real member of the family. Daniel didn't think he'd get another opportunity like this after losing Sinead, in those moments of despair he thought he’d never find anything like it again, then Daisy came along. So I think he's acutely aware of how good he's got it and he doesn't want that bubble bursting.
Daniel's been in a good place and when everything is going well for Daniel, he's great but if he starts to feel like he's losing control of this situation, do you think we're going to see a different Daniel?
Yeah, when everything's going well he's just happy, a supportive partner, a good dad to Bertie and he has good relationships with his family now. But he's a control freak, and he used to have to have a lot more edge about him because he was by himself and he didn't really learn how to trust people. That paranoid side of him, you don't get rid of something like that, it still exists inside and I don't think I'll take much for it to start to come back out again.
How far do you think he would be prepared to go to fight for what he wants?
It’s definitely going to escalate and we’re going to see him behave in ways I don’t think he thought he would have done initially. I think he surprises himself by how much he fights for Daisy and if he finds out how far it's gone with Ryan and Daisy, instead of doing what people might think would be the dignified thing, I think we’re going to see him play much more of a long game. I don’t think he’ll react flippantly, it’s going to be much more calculated, he wants to make sure he holds on to this.
During this week, we see Daisy lie and say that she's going to spend the night with her mum, when in fact she’s going to a hotel with Ryan. is Daniel suspicious?
As soon as she says she’s going to stay with her mum, alarm bells start ringing for him. Because at the Halloween party he left with Bertie, then when he came back out to surprise Daisy she was coming out of the office, looking very surprised to see him and a bit caught in the headlights. Then Daniel clocked Ryan coming from the office as well and immediately it just triggered something in him and he goes there is something here. So his suspicions are already raised that there's something going on that he's not quite twigged and then Daisy suddenly out of nowhere says she’s going off to meet her mum and he sees Ryan also going to a hotel. It just leans into his paranoia and he thinks yes I’m right, there is something going on and I’m going to catch them in the act.
He confides in Ken who tells him to tread carefully, but Daniel’s adamant he needs proof. Do you think he’s going to take Ken's advice, or is he going to be a bit more hot headed.
I think he's going to be much more hot headed because Ken was never there for him during those formative years as a teenager where a male role model should be imparting these things to a son. So now Ken's at an age where he's much more conciliatory and wants to be a peacemaker, but Daniel's 30 years old and still hot headed. He sees Kevin's advice as being quite weak, not proactive enough and allowing what's happening to just kind of roll over him. He knows he needs more proof and he does this by trying to unpick Daisy’s story, which involves calling Christina and trying to get more information from her.
If he’s proven right, should Ryan be worried?
I think so yeah, he’s pushed an 80 year old man down the stairs and he's pushed a teenager down the stairs so he doesn't discriminate, if you fall between the ages of 15 and death you could be going down the stairs! I think it's definitely in Daniel, we saw it with Justin. The thing with Daniel is he doesn't take aggressive action immediately but then when situations back him into a corner he just snaps. It's usually a last resort, but if Ryan is going after Daisy 100% then he’ll have to be an equal and opposite to beat him.
Do you like playing this part of his character, that every now and again we see it coming back?
Yeah, because in soap I think that the most interesting characters are always the morally ambiguous ones. So people who tread on both sides of the sea, you’re not playing a baddie but he makes bad decisions, where when you have these private moments you see him conflicted about it, he has to live with his decisions and his actions have consequences. It's nice to be nice, but it's also good to be bad.
Have you enjoyed how this storyline has carried on, that it didn’t just end after the acid attack, but has led onto new stories?
I love it because as you go along you can use what happens to the character to figure out how it’s going to change the character so you're not just still playing the same person you were five years ago. So the continuity in the narrative is just brilliant, this is one of the only formats where you can play a story like this. You couldn't get this much detail into a three part drama but because we've got just episodes stretched ahead of us it means that we can go off in loads of different tangents and take time to tell the story
We've seen that Bethany is coming back, when she left there was unfinished business with her and Daniel, do you think her coming back could throw another spanner in the works?
Yes, because she left him and he didn't want her to go, he was devastated when she did. And because there was she Sinead association, she was there at the end, even though rather shamefully involved, there's that unfinished business between them. I don't think he ever expected to see Bethany again, he's seen her getting articles published in magazines so as far as he’s concerned she's off living this life that they both wanted so why would she come back to Weatherfield. So when she does I think he’ll be immediately taken back to that time when they were together and maybe realise this was really nice. Maybe he’ll see that Daisy isn't the bee all and end all and maybe there is hope with other people. Although at the minute he can’t see that while he’s in it, he’s in too deep right now and all his fight is going into holding onto Daisy.
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