Josh Tucker
seems just the kind of bloke you’d like to have around. Affable, funny, cheeky
and good company, he’s seldom without a group of enthusiastic hangers on,
despite being new to the street. Of course, it helps that he has positioned
himself at the centre of things with a job at the garage, and as the organiser of
and trainer for Luke’s charity boxing match. Those who haven’t read the recent
spoilers concerning Josh may wish to look away now.
As these previews
have revealed, we know that he isn’t all that he seems, and it is through Josh
and his relationship with David Platt that Coronation
Street will cover the issue of male rape. Indeed, as next week’s previews show, it seems we'll begin to see the real Josh.
I travelled
to ITV in Manchester for an interview with actor Ryan Clayton about the story to come, and to meet the man behind his character.
It was evident
from the start of our conversation that Ryan fully believes in the importance of portraying this
storyline, and spoke with conviction about how male rape is unrepresented. He
spoke of the traits in Josh that we have yet to see, but which the character shares with other
male rapists; we’re told he’s opportunistic, a manipulator, seeks to exert
power and is a calculating and dangerous individual.
Ryan has spoken in detail
about the storyline and character, and how both he and the writers worked with Survivors Manchester to understand and ensure a faithful representation. You can read all about that here,
so I thought I’d focus this interview on getting to know the actor behind Josh.
The set of Roy’s Rolls was the venue
for our interview, which seemed a perfect match for what was a friendly and
enthusiastic chat over a cuppa. It has to be a daunting prospect, not just
joining Coronation Street, but playing such
a character. While Ryan seems to be savouring every moment as he takes it in his
stride, he's endearingly humble about it while at the same time deservedly confident about his ability to portray Josh.
On
playing a bad guy, he says, “I’ve played a lot of villains, I think it’s
something to do with my hair or my eyes, maybe, yeah. I seem to get cast in
those roles” he laughs. “But they are really interesting sorts of people, and how they
work and how they go about things." He continues, “you can come into telly, and a lot of jobs, and you can go
a long time before you’re playing these real interesting characters. A lot of
the time you could just be playing yourself. So, to come into something like Coronation Street and play a really interesting, very complex
guy is great.”
In
terms of gaining insights from other villainous characters, Ryan says, “I think
you’re always taking inspiration from villains. The way Connor plays Pat is absolutely
brilliant.” He continues, “just not playing the comic book villain, and just
playing it in a much more interesting way and trying to be as likeable as
possible ‘cos that’s what’s going to mess with an audience’s head much more.”
While
playing a villain clearly requires a departure from his own personality, the fact
that he has been boxing since he was 11 year’s old makes that aspect of his
characterisation easy at least. “I toured a play called Gypsy Queen before this
and it was a boxing play” he says.
Ryan reveals
how he is a fan of one Corrie writer in particular who we’re told has written the aftermath scenes. “I’ve always loved Jonathan
Harvey who wrote those scenes, I’ve always been a big fan of him, and done his plays at
drama school” he says. “One of my favourite plays is written by him called Guiding Star. So it felt very strange, ‘cos
I was waiting to do a bit of Jonathan Harvey and then it happened to be those particular
scenes, which was great.”
Ryan
tells us how he auditioned for his first job the day after he finished drama
school and found out he’d gotten it the very next day. While he’s mostly worked
in theatre, he’s been interested in television since he started acting aged 17. Speaking of how he came to be an actor, he says “I was always good with
impressions and accents and taking people off and being the class clown basically,
and I was persuaded to do it. I was like, yeah, go on, I’ll have a crack and chose
very different options when it came to college.” He continues, “I’m glad I did,
definitely. And I think people who’ve taught me since then have helped me carry
on this.”
He’s a fan of British film and drama and grew up around Coronation Street. He says, “I was only looking back at old
videos from when we were younger the other day, at Christmas, and you can hear Coronation Street in the background. So, I think growing
up a Mancunian, it feels right, it fitted.”
He
cites Suranne Jones and Sarah Lancashire as former Corrie actors who are “great
inspirations” to him in their career paths. He's also inspired by John Simm and Stephen
Graham, adding “I’m a big fan of This is
England”.
In terms of possible negative Twitter reactions to his pending infamy, Ryan says while he’s aware nothing can prepare you for it, he’s anticipating it, whether it happens or not. “I’ll just accept it, and it’s fine” he says. “I guess it’s just nice to know that they’re involved in it, and watching it and invested. I guess it shows I’m doing a good job, so if anything, it’s a compliment.” He adds, “I think the way that Connor deals with it is a great way, and he’s a great people person and as soon as you show your real side, then I think that’s the best way to deal with people.”
Asked if he is worried about being hassled in the street, he says, “that’s something I’ll take as it comes really, but it’s great to be telling something that is an important story that needs telling and is going to represent people.” Ryan related some fond and funny accounts of being recognised so far and said, “It’s nice, it’s lovely. Again, it’s just nice to see people so invested in the show.”
He’s
received a very warm welcome from the people on Coronation
Street too, and is genuinely appreciative of how they’ve made him
feel part of it all. “It’s a lovely place to work. It is like a big family and everyone’s
just really welcoming and has made me feel welcome.”
His
family are delighted for him to be on Corrie, and being a City fan, we’re told he’s
making a small dent in the red to blue ratio in the Corrie building.
Ryan
saved the best laugh til last when, having given serious consideration to which
of the cast he’s most excited to meet he told us, “I’ve just always loved
Kirk. He’s mint isn’t he? Even though he’s a red. Kirk is definitely up there.
My mate was like, ‘you’ve gotta get him out for a pint with us’. So, possibly Kirk.”
While Josh Tucker may not be a character designed to win fans, I can most
definitely count myself as a fan of Ryan Clayton after our interview which was engaging,
interesting, fun and rather lovely throughout.
By Emma Hynes
www.emmahynes.net
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