Coronation Street Blog: Ryan Mulvey interview: Brody, Kit and father figures

How has Brody been feeling with all the turmoil over his dad possibly not being his dad and potentially Kit being his dad? Has he been struggling with that?

It's been huge for Brody, a massive bombshell has been dropped on him. I don't think he can really comprehend that his dad is not who he thought he is, that his biological dad might not be his dad. I think he's heartbroken because he's lost someone that he's loved all his life. Then there are also massive consequences in that his sisters, who are the best thing in his life, might not be strictly his biological sisters and it kind of makes it feel false. It feels like his life has been shattered in front of his eyes and so he's not dealing with it very well. He's turned to drinking and I think it's definitely making his behaviour worse because it's always in his brain.

Does he want anything to do with Kit or does he wish this had never happened and Kit would just go away?

Brody’s scared. I think his first thought is that Kit is rejecting him and he doesn't want to be there. He looks up to his dad but he’s always had an uneasy feeling because he's never really got on with him too well and he’s always looking not to disappoint him. He's scared to have another dad in his life because what if he rejects him as well? Brody's got a huge fear towards men and what it is to be a man and that's why I think he's quite an aggressive person because he never wants to show a soft side because he'd been brought up to believe that’s how a stereotypical man should be.

We’ve all seen Brody’s bad behaviour but there’s a lot of vulnerability there too, are you enjoying seeing that coming through?

Yeah, definitely. It's nice because obviously he's coming at things with this hard exterior and messing everything up, but it's really lovely to play this softer side and see his true feelings come out. At the end of the day he's a teenager, he's scared and he doesn't really know what's going on, even though he likes to pretend he does. He's scared and he doesn't really know how he's going to figure everything out and how he's going to look after his sisters. He's just quite overwhelmed.

Do you feel for Brody?

Yeah, obviously I'm going to be biased, but yes I feel sorry for him. He's a kid, he's trying to navigate life like every teenager is, but then he also has the added confusion of trying to step up and be a parent at 17, trying to look after two younger sisters, a mum who's going off the rails, and hold his family together. But then he’s also got the normal teenage struggles of trying to make friends, girlfriends, finding his own path. It's not easy being a teenager and then added with all these other stresses, it's feeling like it's impossible. It’s a lot for him.

On top, this week we find out that his dad has been in touch and is planning a prison break, is this something that Brody wants to go along with? Is he worried about getting involved or is he just desperate to do anything to try and keep his family together?

It’s a combination of everything, but he's definitely desperate to keep his family together. He feels like it’s the one thing he can do. He’s promised his mum, he's promised his dad that looking after the family is now his job and that's why he’s doing everything to keep them together. He'll definitely feel like a failure if he can't keep them together. He feels like that’s his duty as a brother, his duty as a man, to keep that together. He has got morals and he does know it's wrong, but he'll definitely blindside that to try keep his family together and keep his loved ones close.

So how does he feel when he starts to hear that Mick’s plan is going awry?

Firstly, he's just so nervous. He doesn't want to disappoint his dad. He idolises his dad and to think that he's letting his dad down, that's in his nightmares. The biggest thing is that he's scared and he'll beat himself up if he can't fulfil his dad's shoes. That’s definitely playing on his mind throughout and if it doesn't all come together I can see him acting up afterwards because he doesn't feel enough. He will definitely feel like he's letting his family down if the plan goes wrong.

Is he worried about getting into trouble again? Obviously Brody's not long out of the STC.

He definitely puts a front on that he's not scared. He's quite impulsive, he can do these idiotic things and I would definitely say he likes the adrenaline rush from it. That is his personality and it fuels him to do these things. He likes being excited because it gives him something raw and it takes him out of his own head with this sense of excitement. But then again, even though there's all that excitement there, it does scare him because the STC is not a nice place to be. He's had horrible times, he’s had loads of fights growing up, so he doesn't really want to go back there, but due to his impulsive personality, he thinks whatever happens, happens.

How does he feel when he hears that Kit's been drawn into it and possibly injured?

I think it's hard because he's only just found out about Kit being his dad. So it's all, again, very overwhelming for Brody and he doesn't really know how to process it. The idea that someone who could offer him a better life, and he knows that he could offer him a better life, Brody's clever, could also be taken away is tough. He's obviously worried that his dad, who's already in prison, could be sent down for longer if this ends badly. He's hurt an actual police officer, but that police officer is also Brody’s dad too. It becomes a whole moral battle of that's my dad who's raised me, but that's my biological father. So it's a huge battle in his head and I don't think he really knows who he wants to win. He'll keep that very quiet and to himself till he can figure things out.

Would you like to see Brody have a relationship with Kit? It's quite an interesting dynamic with a policeman and the bad lad we’ve seen so far.

It's a great dynamic, his dad being a policeman and Brody the way he is, always getting into trouble. I love working with Jacob. It's great because there's so many dramatic scenes that we can play of finding out he's his dad and all the drama and emotion around that. There's probably a lot of resentment there for him as well. But there's also just the average dad and lad scenes that would be exciting to do, say, like involving girls, throwing a house party, there's just so many different routes we could do with the dad and son which is really exciting to come.

You’ve been on Corrie for about 7 months now, are you enjoying it?

Yeah, it's really good, it's a madhouse but a great house. Everyone's lovely, I know everyone says it, but it is like a family, you've got your crazy cousins, those you look up to. Everyone's creative and it's just a wonderful place to be.

Do you love all the different sides to the character of Brody?

He’s got so many different sides to him and that’s what makes him so interesting and exciting. Yes he’s angry and he likes a fight but also he loves his sisters, he wants friends, he wants a girlfriend, he wants to have a dad who looks after him and he wants to feel safe. I think because of what he’s been through he struggles to trust people but it would be nice to see him push that boundary and see if he can trust anyone around him again.

Glenda Young

Bestselling novelist published by Headline