Coronation Street actor James Cartwright has spoken candidly about the difficulty of portraying the soap's harrowing domestic abuse storyline, describing it as 'pretty horrible' to play.
Dangerous Escalation in Weatherfield
James Cartwright, who plays the increasingly volatile Theo Silverton, revealed the devastating plot involving his character and boyfriend Todd Grimshaw is set to continue with more 'twists and turns' ahead. The actor admitted he struggles with the challenging nature of the storyline but feels a huge responsibility to portray it accurately.
Theo's abuse towards Todd has escalated from verbal taunts about his image to physical violence, with Cartwright hinting that other characters could be at risk as Theo's behaviour spirals further out of control.
An Important But Difficult Responsibility
James explained: 'I think we always knew he was a complicated man. But now, as we move further along, you start to see that actually he's not just a complicated man, he's potentially a very dangerous man.'
The actor described how Theo's internal damage is now manifesting in ways that even the character might not be able to control. On discovering his character would become abusive, James said he wasn't surprised but rather 'excited to be involved in such an important storyline', though some script developments had him 'choking on my cornflakes'.
Explosive Scenes and On-Set Atmosphere
The storyline is set to intensify with an explosive incident that represents another escalation in Theo's abusive behaviour. James detailed how Theo 'blows up' when unable to express his feelings, becoming volatile and terrifying for Todd.
Filming the difficult scenes has created a particular atmosphere on set, with James noting: 'There's a different mood on set when we're shooting these scenes. Everybody just gets on and there's a mood of looking after each other.'
The cast and crew maintain a serious approach, aware that domestic violence is a reality for many people, often escalating around Christmas. James emphasised the importance of treading carefully between drama and authenticity to avoid doing a disservice to real-life victims.
He explained the insidious nature of such abuse: 'Theo has just upped the temperature one degree at a time, and as that happens you start to normalise it. You start to make excuses for their behaviours and this is where Theo is sitting at the moment which is a very dangerous position for Todd.'
Coronation Street continues to air on ITV1 and ITV X on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm.
