Mason has been involved in really hard hitting storylines since he joined. How did you feel when you found out that he would be involved in a stabbing storyline?
To be honest, I was really taken aback when I first heard. I think because for all of Mason’s life, he’s been the one on the other end of it, so I could have seen Mason being the one to carry out the attack rather than Mason being the victim. So yeah, it took me by surprise, but a nice surprise from an actor’s perspective because they’ve given me a really juicy script as well as all the resources that are necessary to do a storyline like this, including working closely with The Ben Kinsella Trust who have been an excellent help.
How important do you think it is for soaps to tackle these types of storylines?
It’s so important. I’ve always enjoyed Coronation Street as a viewer, but I completely underestimated the power that it has on its audience until I was involved in the bullying storyline and saw the effect that it has on the viewers. Fingers crossed this storyline will be received the way we are hoping it will be and ultimately, if one person drops a knife and someone is saved, then that would definitely make it all worth it.
Mason is in the process of trying to bring his brothers down for Becky’s death, knowing the dangers of them both, why is Mason risking it all?
I think when I was reading the script, the only conclusion as to why I think Mason would make such a bold, ballsy, courageous and heroic effort was for Betsy, it was an act of love. I think it's in my head I had it as Mason was doing this in an effort to recoup and essentially show Betsy that he had changed, and he's turned his life around, and that despite the affiliation to Becky’s murder through the brothers. He wanted to show her that he's not the same as them, and I think the only way that he could have a swinging chance at that is to try and put him behind bars and undo wrongdoing that he had done by being affiliated with them.
We see that day that Mason apologises to Liam again for bullying him. Is he trying to put all his previous wrongs, right?
I think Mason does want to put all his previous wrongs right, as well as risking everything for Betsy, he also wants to prove to everyone that he’s changed. He’s aware he’s in the mud with his brothers and that he could get it in the neck, but he really does want to put all his wrongs right, I suppose. Stu has offered him a job in Germany, so if he hasn’t cleared his conscience before he leaves, then he’s not starting completely fresh.
Is that what you’d hope for Mason? A fresh start in Germany as a trainee chef?
Honestly, hell no! Listen, I thought it was nice that they recouped that between Mason and Stu, but I am loving my time with Sally and Tim - that’s the pinnacle of existence on Coronation Street, isn’t it? Living with Sally and Tim, getting fed lovely meals, I’m absolutely loving life there. I had a talk with the director and his vision for it was that Mason would be excited at the prospect of going to Germany, although he feels forced, there was that element of excitement but at the same time, there’s also a massive undercurrent of sadness because he has established that relationship with Sally and Tim. He has also established a relationship with Betsy that he really, really values. I think Mason would be sad to let all of that go.
Is Mason less scared of Matty and Logan with Lisa now in his corner?
I think anyone with Lisa in their corner is gonna have a little spring in their step! But also, Mason has had enough of his brothers. Ironically, it’s like a kid at school being bullied who one day switches and finally fights back. Mason is backed by Lisa, but he’s at the point where he also backs himself now and is going to do the right thing.
Until recently, Mason has been arrogant and cocky to anyone he encounters on the street. But now we've seen that softer side to him, he's kind of been accepted by Lisa, he's got a relationship with Betsy, Sally, Tim and had a lovely relationship with Stu. Did you enjoy playing the softer side to him?
Oh, it's been ace. It's been really nice, because it started off as quite a secluded role in that you didn't really get to interact with many of the characters on the street. When I was doing the bullying storyline, it was just pure horror and vulgar behaviour, so to go from that to actually pushing yourself a little bit more and trying to show some vulnerability, develop relationships and have some depth to the character has been so fun. Also, to actually interact with other cast members and form some bonds with like Sally Dynevor and Vicky Myers was an amazing experience and I've had an absolute blast with them, they've mentored me and taught me a lot.
When searching his brother's flat, Mason finds a WWII helmet, can you tell me what the significance of this is?
Well, that was something that was from Becky's flat, and basically just pins my brothers to the scene of the crime and connects them to her murder. The person that murdered Becky was the person that burgled her house so as soon as Mason finds that, he knows he can pin them for this.
What was it like to film the stabbing scene?
Oh, that was intense, really intense. I worked my butt off for that and just prepared and prepared and prepared. We had a vision of it being somewhat like the Saving Private Ryan scene. It was very well written in the script. I did a lot of research on that to see how you would breathe, what the symptoms of that would be, how it would look. And then I was just researching different things like: ‘Does it hurt to get stabbed?’ Surprisingly, a lot of the information that I was reading was that you don't feel it, which spooked me, but then that changes the way that you play it, because it's more of shock and focus on the breath, as opposed to screaming and agony. Everyone on set was just incredible. It was the best crew, director, environment, makeup team - shout out to Helen and Lorraine. Every single person involved was on their A-game. It was really epic to be involved in.
How did you prepare for the storyline?
We worked closely with The Ben Kinsella Trust. They gave us an angle on what would be the most effective way to play it that would have the greatest impact and what it looks like in real life situations and the gravitas of the situation. I feel like it makes it very real when you speak to a charity because you realise that this type of thing is happening all the time, and it needs to change, so I hope if we can at least teach one person to put a knife down, then we’ve done a job. I also spoke with Charlie’s Promise Charity who have been excellent. It’s a charity set up by a really inspiring man, Martin, who sadly lost his son Charlie to knife crime and is doing everything in his power to raise awareness and stop knife crime.
Especially the nature of this storyline and the research you have been doing, do you struggle to shut down after a day of filming?
Yeah, it's an interesting one. Filming this was such an intense block of shooting, time wise and emotionally. So when I got home, I was absolutely exhausted. I don’t have any way to actually switch off, but I do love sleeping, so I would go home and just sleep. I didn’t eat much dinner on those days. I would say it was the best two weeks of my career though.
You’ve said before you have a great relationship with your on screen brothers, Matty and Logan, how do you get into character for these scenes?
Well, those two are crazy on screen and off screen, they're good crazy, though, and we have such a strong bond that, similarly to myself and Charlie, where we can push the boundaries, and we do push it. There were times where off screen they were giving me a bit of grief and would be getting in my face and whatnot, just to help create that energy so that you've got a take off, you've got a runway before action. So, yeah, there was a little bit of that going on.
