Coronation Street Blog: Calum Lill Talks To Corrie Blog: "Joel’s worst is still to come…”

Our latest Coronation Street Blog Cast Chat is with the show's newest villain Joel Deering, actor Calum Lill. Joining the show a year ago as Lauren’s Duty Solicitor & Dee-Dee Bailey's new love interest, some crafty Corrie foreshadowing has now resolved Lauren’s disappearance/murder plot, revealing Joel as a villainous groomer and attacker of women!

On June 24th I sat in a media suite at ITV Corrie studios, to listen to Calum, who told us about this surprising turn in Corrie's storytelling.

Hi Calum!

Have you had much reaction from the public since Joel's secret was revealed?

“I never got noticed before that! It came out on a Thursday, and I went to a service station on a Friday and felt like I’d got three heads!”

Was it a relief to have some secrets out in the open?

"Yes, it's been over a year. I was asked what I was doing when going into Corrie and I just said ‘’nothing, just being a solicitor”. It was nice to have a bit of it come out (on screen) and for it not to get leaked in the press”

Was Joel worried Lauren would re-appear in Weatherfield, or did he think she was dead?

“No, I think his immediate worry was that the police were going to find her (in the flat) and he was going to be arrested. So when the police don't find her in the flat, he thinks she must be alive, but he’s just waiting for her to go to the police. From keeping his head down, back to that arrogance of thinking he’d got away with it. His chickens have come home to roost. He's got a lot to lose! ”

What was it like filming those flashback episodes?

"It was nice to know what had gone on behind the scenes! You usually go off the script, and he’s this nice guy, but off-camera I knew all of this with Lauren, but I didn't know what. The scripts don't come out until two weeks before filming - then I found out it would be really dark. We’d stayed late at the studio until 9 or 10 pm every night going through those scenes, line by line, to work out exactly what had gone on between them. We did the attack scene in December, and it was the first time I'd worked with Cait (Fitton, Lauren Bolton) aside from a brief scene at the start of the show - then our next scene, I’m kicking her head in!”

Is it different playing Joel now that the secrets are out?

“I don't think I play him differently. It’s just that we now see a different side. It was always happening, just that we didn't see it on screen. Now I can play a scene, where we know he’s lying, so I developed ticks, postures, and gestures, so I knew it was happening, but maybe the viewers did not. We now know he’s a bit more manipulative!”

How does he feel when he realises that Lauren is pregnant?

“He knows that he can't deny that he's slept with her - the proof he doesn't need. Again, he’s seeing this life falling apart (in front of him). Even if the only thing that comes out is that he had consensual sex with her, his life is still over. It's all up in the air. It makes it way more serious. He is very selfish - we haven't seen the worst, yet - this will push him to the extremes”