Antony Cotton, best known for playing Sean Tully on Coronation Street, has opened up about the most challenging aspects of his role on the iconic ITV soap. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk and Smooth Spins Casino, the 50-year-old actor shared the realities of life on set since joining the show in 2003.
The Worst Part of the Job
Cotton revealed that the hardest part of acting on Coronation Street involves the grueling hours and difficult filming conditions. He said: “The hours and the circumstances. Night shoots, rain, being outdoors, and physical scenes like crashes. That's when you realise the reality of the job.”
He elaborated on a particularly unglamorous moment: “Standing in a coat in the absolutely persistent rain and knowing you've got another two hours of filming. It's nighttime, and you're standing on a roof on a bit of makeshift carpet so that you don't fall through the cracks. That’s at one o'clock in the morning.”
Another vivid example involved a stunt: “Or you're hanging upside down in a minibus crash with a ‘broken rib’ in the middle of the night in the middle of a deserted waste ground, and you're covered in the debris of what a crash would bring, and you've got another three hours to go. That's when reality really hits.”
The Upsides of the Role
Despite the tough moments, Cotton acknowledged the positive aspects of his job. “You also get to go to nice stuff, put on nice clothes and meet nice people. Actors are very good at whinging, so you're very aware of the job that you do when it's in circumstances like that.”
Photographic Memory
The actor also discussed his ability to memorize lines quickly and then forget them after the scene is shot. “You could give me six pages of dialogue, I'd read it twice, and I'd be able to remember it. I've got a photographic memory. My brain retains instantly, and then it's gone. If they asked me to go back the next day and do it, I wouldn't be able to do it because it's gone. So I don't ever take it home. I've remembered the lines, shot my scene and then it's gone.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV at 8.30pm.
