Coronation Street legend Bill Roache has played Ken Barlow since the very first episode of the soap in 1960
Heartbreaking Coronation Street storyline Bill Roache, 94, refused ‘I can’t do that'(Image: ITV)
Ken Barlow actor Bill Roache has opened up about the Coronation Street storyline he wasn’t best pleased with.
Bill first appeared as Ken in Coronation Street’s inaugural episode, which aired on December 9, 1960. He secured the world record as the longest-serving soap actor in 2010 and looks set to remain unbeaten.
His extraordinary tenure in Weatherfield means even he struggles to distinguish where his performance ends and his real self begins. He explained: “It’s pseudo-method I would say. If you’re playing a character that’s vastly different from yourself you’ve got all sorts of things to learn and do. I didn’t have that. I was just playing me as Ken Barlow.
“In my book I don’t act, I just do, and I believe it. That’s it. I don’t think about acting at all. I just absorb, take it all in, feel that’s who I am, that’s what I’m doing, and do it.
“Over the years in Coronation Street there’s only been a couple of times, one time in particular, when it hasn’t worked. That’s because I took it personally, I was personally involved. It wasn’t Ken, it was me doing this but under the name of Ken.”
He has played Ken for several decades(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
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He recalled: “Ken had an illegitimate child by a hairdresser and he was looking after this child on his own and was very protective of it, was fighting for it tooth and nail. Suddenly, not in just one episode, but in one scene the mother of the child comes along and takes it away and he says okay.
“I said, ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t do that.’ I’d been so involved with protecting, keeping and looking after this child, suddenly in one sentence. The producer said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s a bit sudden, I realise it.’ It was too late to change it. That was a big wrench.”
He added: “I took them all personally. As an actor you shouldn’t do that, if you’re doing different parts all the time you’d be all over the place.
“I feel I’m Ken’s protector, I feel I’m looking after him. His caretaker rather than protector. That’s what I do.”
Bill has no desire to leave Weatherfield and plans to continue defying the ageing process through positive thinking. He explained: “I try not to think about the years, I just think about getting on and enjoying life.
He previously opened up about a storyline he wasn’t pleased with(Image: ITV)
|I would want for the future just more of the same. I think to quite a large extent ageing is a belief system, you know. As you get on people say, ‘Oh, take it easy, you shouldn’t be doing that.’ So, you start taking it easy. And then it’s, ‘Well, I think you should give that up.’ So, you give that up and it goes down, down you go.
“I would want for the future just more of the same. I think to quite a large extent ageing is a belief system, you know. As you get on people say, ‘Oh, take it easy, you shouldn’t be doing that.’ So, you start taking it easy. And then it’s, ‘Well, I think you should give that up.’ So, you give that up and it goes down, down you go.
“Actually, as you get older, you should start doing more, not less. We’re lucky to be here, as we are, so make the most of it. Life is a miracle. Our actually physical body is a miracle and it’s capable of so much more.”, reports the Mirror.
Bill also maintains that after decades in the role, memorising his lines has become second nature and isn’t something that causes him much concern.
Bill has no plans to retire soon(Image: ITV)
Speaking on the Session 7: Interesting Lives podcast, he said: “People ask about learning lines as an actor, but it’s not like poetry is it? It’s an exchange, ‘You coming to the Rovers? What do you want to do afterwards?
“Do you want to have a meal? By the way you know I’ve having an affair with your daughter?’ Or something like that, or whatever it is that’s going on.” He continued: “You get the sequence of the story of whatever is going on.
“The writers are amazing on Coronation Street. I respect writers tremendously. If you just keep reading it and you feel what is happening the words just gradually sink and then you just polish up on them.
“I don’t have an actual technique. We don’t have much time really. You get the scripts about a week or two weeks before, but you’ve got others as well.”
The soap is now filmed in High Definition within a specially constructed studio, with a rapid turnaround of scripts and scenes required to deliver five episodes weekly and accommodate numerous characters across sprawling storylines.
He’s been involved in some big moments(Image: Granada Television)
When Bill first joined, there were just two episodes per week and viewing figures regularly exceeded 20 million – numbers no television programme can achieve today.
“Those early days were totally different,” Bill acknowledges. “We all knew each other, we cared about each other. They used to get a little bus and throw a crate of beer in the back and we’d all go to London or somewhere. Nowadays the cast is just too big, you just can’t do that.
“I think I prefer the method of filming that we do now where you just turn up and do your scenes. Before it was rehearse like a full play and then done like a full play. If there was one mistake in one film we had to go back and do a whole quarter up until the commercial break. So, from a technical point of view, I definitely prefer the system we have now.
“But each era I’ve been in has had its own special thing and I have just loved it. I think the ’70s and the ’80s, looking back on the old ones, seem to be very popular with people. “
Beyond Corrie, Bill has been candid about his spiritual convictions previously, and his faith in reincarnation provided considerable solace following the deaths of his daughter Edwina in 1984 aged 18 months, and his wife Sara in 2009.
Bill has now disclosed that he holds faith in one true God and that the human soul continues beyond the death of the physical form.
He said: “I have my own understanding about life and what goes on. I know that life, to me, carries on. I know that life goes on. I believe there is one God who is loving, totally loving and we’re all looked after in that sense. That’s it. I want to keep it as simple as that.”
The complete interview with Bill is available on the Session 7 podcast, out now. Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX
