Coronation Street Blog Interview: James Burrows

It has been almost ten years since Michelle Connor’s biological, but swapped-at-birth, son Alex last plodded the cobbles. The discovery in 2008 that the child she had taken home from hospital in 1992 was actually that of Wendy and Nick Neeson, while she had been bringing up theirs in the form of Ryan, was as traumatic as you might imagine for all concerned. Nor was the resulting contact with her son without its problems, and efforts to build a relationship with Alex and to find a place for him in her life proved difficult. After a spell with Michelle, he would eventually return to the family who raised him, and the contact between them would dwindle to nothing.

Fast forward to 2018, and there is a new trainee doctor at the Medical Centre raising temperatures; particularly Liz’s. But, she’s in for a surprise when she goes to investigate if rumours of his hotness are true only to find herself face to face with Michelle’s long lost son, now going by the nickname Ali, and played by James Burrows.

I travelled to ITV in Manchester to meet James and hear all about his character's return, what might lie ahead, and his experience of joining the street. If you're not a fan of spoilers, best to look away now.

Ali made his return to our screens this week, and seemed less than pleased to meet a stunned Michelle as he reluctantly treated her for a knife wound. But can we expect Ali to remain hostile with his birth mother? “He hasn’t seen her for ten years and I think, you know, there’s a question of why” explains James, “He’s going to be very stand offish with her for a little while, but I think in the next few weeks we’ll see that all unfold.” If there is any possibility of them making amends, we’re assured Michelle will be made to work for it.

Asked if Ali will prove to be a bad un’, James assures us that while he might show a dark side in how he’s currently treating Michelle, he’s actually a good person. “He’s got a bit of swagger, maybe a little bit of attitude” he explains, “But I think all round he’s an alright guy. He’s not a baddie.” With something of a chip on his shoulder, however, he does seek to hurt Michelle by going out of his way to bond with those around her while freezing her out. “Actually, him and Steve get on from day dot really” he reveals, adding that they have a few pints together. We’re told he’s also very open to Robert and Liz, and that they all encourage him to make amends with his mother. 

Having been assured that Ali is not a villain, we're told that this is not a dark revenge plot, but rather a relationship focussed one. Nor is there any suggestion of a love interest at the present time, as the dynamic will be very much whether or not they can build their family connection up again.

Indeed, with Ryan set to return, we're told we can expect a Cain and Abel style narrative to develop. Speaking of his character James says, “I think there’s a lot of hatred there actually” adding, “maybe some sort of jealousy as well, I think he might be slightly jealous of Ryan.”

It being very early days, James is reluctant to say much more besides alluding to a potentially mysterious element to Ali’s arrival, as we're told that all may not be as it seems. Was his return to Weatherfield really out of his control, or might he have orchestrated his return? “He says it’s a placement, but I think he might have a bit of an ulterior motive” he explains. “ But, like I say, it will all unfold in the next couple of weeks.”

James has received a very warm welcome on the street with Kym Marsh in particular taking him under her wing given that a lot of his scenes have been with her.

Asked if he had looked back at his character’s past scenes in preparation for the role, James explained, “I was brought up with watching Coronation Street on the TV so I’m familiar with the show anyway, but yeah, I had to do a bit of research and check him out.”

As to whether he was nervous on his first day on set, James says “Yeah, I mean not nervous because it’s my first job or anything like that, but it’s a very well established show and everyone already knows the characters, they’ve been here years; well, not everyone, but yeah, it was slightly overwhelming, very surreal walking down the cobbles for the first time. Like I said, I’d been brought up with it on the TV at home. So yeah, it was a bit crazy.” James celebrated getting the role with close family and friends back in Derby. Speaking of his Mum and Nana he says, “I think they were over the moon because they’re massive fans of the show.” He enjoyed watching his first episode this week, and looks forward to seeing more.

He’s not the only one as I think he has already shown great screen presence. And we certainly will be seeing more, as Coronation Street confirmed on the day that Ali is to be a new regular on the show. I for one am happy to hear it and look forward to seeing how both his character and what promises to be a complex story develops.

By Emma Hynes
www.emmahynes.net

Twitter: @ELHynes
Facebook: @EmmaHynesWrites
Instagram: emmalouhynes

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Meet James Burrows - playing Michelle's son Alex in Corrie

Michelle Connor's real, biological son Alex Neeson is returning to Coronation Street.  Now then, before you get confused (I know I am!), yes, Michelle had a son called Ryan Connor.  Ryan was the baby she brought up thinking he was her own biological son but she later found out there'd been a swap in the hospital and he wasn't hers after all.  

Her real son Alex later turned up - and now he's returning to Corrie, calling himself Ali this time round.  Here's an interview with actor James Burrows who will be joining the cast as Ali.

How did the part of Ali come about for you?
It started with a call from my agent, then a meeting at Coronation Street where I read the script and a few weeks later I got a call back to say well done we’d like to see you for a screen test. So I came back to the street for a screen test and luckily a few weeks after that I got a call to say I’d got the part. 

How did you feel when you found out you’d got the part, did you have a good feeling after the screen test?    
Very good yes and I was very excited when I got the call, I’ve never done a soap before so that side of things is very new to me but I was really excited about the character and where I can take him.

The last time we saw Ali he and Michelle had made the decision that their mother/son relationship couldn’t be rebuilt, so what brings Ali back to the street?
He’s a trainee doctor and he comes to Weatherfield on placement at the medical practice but from the outset he makes it clear it wasn’t his choice to be there. 

We instantly see that Ali isn’t keen to establish a relationship with Michelle, despite her being his birth mother, why is that?
I think he’s a bit troubled, his mum hasn’t been there for him recently and he’s very standoffish with Michelle. He gives the impression that Wendy (the mum who brought him up) has turned away from him since the baby swap was uncovered but maybe he’s telling a few porkie pies. It seems he’s been very distant from both Wendy and Michelle and now he’s arrived in Weatherfield on a medical placement and it happens to be where his biological mother lives. He makes it clear he doesn’t want to be in Weatherfield, well that’s what he’s saying anyway!

Is Ali very career focussed?
I think so yes, he’s a very intelligent lad, he’s been to medical school, but I also think he has a slight laddie side to him as well, he’s not a geek, there’s a lot more interesting angles to him than him just being a doctor. He’s quite cool, the way he dresses etc. 

Ali arrives without a girlfriend, does he have his sights set on anyone?
I think he might have his eye on someone, there’s definitely someone on the street who interests him.

Ali’s a very interesting character, is all as it seems with him?  
I think he’s a little bit of a mystery, I’m still working him out myself. He’s very different to the characters I’ve usually played, I’ve never played a doctor before so it’s been really interesting getting my head around that. I normally play a bad boy; the murderer or drug dealer.   

He sounds like quite a complex character, are you looking forward to getting your teeth into the character?
Yes I’m really looking forward to finding out more about him and seeing his character unravel. I started filming just before Christmas so it’s all starting to unfold a bit for me now, it’s getting interesting and I’m really looking forward to playing it out. The thing with soap is you don’t always know where your character is going, it’s not like a drama where you have a beginning, a middle and an end and you know how to play it, it’s very different and that’s going to be interesting.  

How have you found your first few weeks filming on Corrie, is it different to anything you’ve done before?
It’s very different to working on a film set or the dramas I’ve done in the past, it’s very fast paced, when you come in you’ve really go to be on it.

Have you been given a warm welcome?
Everyone has been lovely, I’ve been welcomed with open arms which has been really nice. It’s a really great environment to work in.

What other jobs have you worked on recently before starting on Corrie?
Last year I was doing a drama called Love, Lies & Records written by Kay Mellor, I also played a character in Stephen Merchant’s new film called Fighting with My Family.  

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Coronation Street Spoiler: Michelle's real son returns?

Remember Alex Neeson? He was Michelle's real son, as opposed to her fake son, Ryan Connor. 

You can find out more about Michelle's fake son and real son here.

Confused?  I always was.  And now it looks as if Michelle's real son is returning to Coronation Street.

A story in The Sunday People a couple of weeks ago completely passed us by as it's not online (that I could find). But Corrie fan Lou sent us the clipping by email and we can confirm that The Sunday People did indeed run the spoiler.

The Sunday People say that Michelle is in for a shock when she finds out that Alex - now calling himself Ali - is on work placement in the medical centre on Coronation Street.

Mr Curry Sauce tells The Sunday People: "Ali settles himself in Weatherfield and seems happy to make friends with everyone else but gives his mum the cold shoulder. It looks like he might have an ulterior motive. Is Michelle set for more heartbreak?"

There is no information yet on whether the original actor Dario Coates is returning to play Alex or if a new actor has been cast.

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Michelle's Memory Game

It must be great being Michelle Connor.  You're the centre of the universe.  Your boyfriend exists only to indulge your every whim.  Your best friend is having a terrible time of it at the moment, which allows you to be judgmental and sanctimonious.  And you have your own pub.  Really, life couldn't be better.

In fact, Michelle is even able to rewrite her entire past and convince herself that it's true.  On Monday's Corrie she launched into a tender, emotional soliloquy about how wonderful it was to have a baby.  How beautiful it was for her and Dean to spot the little spot of genetic material that was Ryan on the screen.  It was all so lovely, she teared up.

Except that wasn't Ryan, was it Michelle?  You might have forgotten, but we haven't.  We lived through the interminable, never-ending baby swap storyline of 2008.  We endured the weeks of gut wrenching emotion and people locking themselves in the back room of the Rovers and clandestine visits in manky cafes.  We put up with every tedious second of it and we don't appreciate it being swept under the carpet.  Yes, it was a horrible, misguided storyline that would probably have been best off not happening.  Doesn't matter.  It did happen, and Corrie's continued insistence that it didn't is a source of constant frustration, and the cause of many Gogglebox-esque shouts at the TV.  Over and over.

Michelle: "Oh, I do miss my Ryan now he lives abroad."

Viewers: "Go and see your other son!"

Michelle: "It was lovely holding my baby for the first time."

Viewers: "That wasn't your son!"

Michelle: "Let's have a family holiday - me and Steve and Ryan and Amy."

Viewers: "WHAT ABOUT ALEX?!?"

Poor Alex has just vanished without trace.  The last we heard of him Michelle was taking him to meet his grandparents in Ireland, which implies he was being welcomed into the bosom of the family.  Then: nothing. He just vanished.  This psychologically unbalanced, emotional young man who was deeply attached to Michelle after the disappearance of his own mother was never mentioned again.  Where is he?  Did he just give up?  Similarly, Ryan spent weekends with his biological father for a while: that all went out the window. When he went off the rails with drugs and dropping out and all sorts, his father was nowhere to be seen. Wouldn't a quiet word from him have helped?

It makes Michelle seem like even more of a bitch than she already is.  It's hard for her to spout truisms about "families" and to criticise Tracy Barlow's mothering skills when she has a son she doesn't give a monkeys about.  I accept that Ryan is her "real" son, in the sense that he's the one she looked after his whole life, but Alex is her biological son, a legacy of her relationship with The Sainted Dean.  And he needs a mum.

I'm not particularly keen for Alex to come back because, as I said, the whole storyline was incredibly dull. But it would be nice for Michelle to acknowledge it now and then.  Perhaps a little "Ryan's off being a DJ in the Med, and my other son Alex moved to Australia to study."  Or, "I know how you feel, Gail; my son Alex turned out to be a dangerous psychopath and has been locked up in a secure institution for the rest of his life."  Or "I think of Alex sometimes, since he was killed in that terrible exploding sofa accident while I was on my cruise."  Nothing much.  Just a bit of closure.

I'm guessing that in Michelle's world she just lost interest in him.  And since the Earth revolves around her, that's all she needs.

See also: Rewind on Ryan Connor

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Corrie's Alex Neeson look-a-like

Were Corie's Alex Neeson, and Richard Ashcroft of The Verve swapped at birth or was it Ryan Connor and another lead singer from a band? I'm confused now.

There are more Coronation Street look-a-likes here.