Antony Cotton: ‘New Corrie romance could help younger viewers’
By Sam Rigby
Antony Cotton has revealed that he thinks his new romantic storyline on Coronation Street could help younger viewers.
The actor said that it is important that gay teenagers see a “happy, successful relationship”, but admitted that he isn’t sure whether his new love interest will be a permanent fixture.
Viewers will see Sean meet new vicar Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) in the coming weeks, which could bring the barman’s unlucky streak to an end – read more here.
Speaking to Digital Spy, he said: “For me from a personal point of view, I think it’s lovely that a 15 or 16-year-old boy who’s sitting down to watch Coronation Street with his mum and dad and might be thinking about coming out to his parents, can see a positive, fun character.
“Sean has never apologised for who he is in the show and never, ever will. So for me that’s an incredibly powerful thing – for a young person to see a gay character who makes no apologies, is accepted by everybody and is loved by everybody. It makes people see that actually that person does exist and maybe it could be them.”
On Sean having a long-term relationship with Billy: “I think that would be quite special – that people saw a character in a happy, successful relationship that was ongoing. From a drama point of view, it’s better that they have a row every now and again, so who knows what comes from that?
“I’m torn about that and we’ve only done a few scenes, so we’ve just got to see whether the two characters work together. We soon find that out in this show. If something works, it works, and if something doesn’t, it doesn’t and there’s no point pretending otherwise. I’m hoping that it will work to a degree!”
Daniel Brocklebank will make his Coronation Street debut as Billy on Friday (December 5).
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