Coronation Street star Ian Bartholomew may be getting all the applause for his role as the manipulative and controlling Geoff Metcalfe, but he says that portraying the character has been "horrifying" for him at times.
Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning, he said: "(Geoff) is dark. It's been fascinating, it's not been fun. A lot of people have said, 'oh have you enjoyed playing the villain?' Well, no.
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"The thing is that Geoff does not see himself as a villain, he is not a well man, there's a disconnect somewhere. But purely as an acting exercise I've never done anything like this before, certainly not over such a long period.
"You have a general idea of the storyline but until you get a script you don't know what it is, what you have to interpret and what you have to do with it.
"Some of the stuff I found quite horrifying when I read, to think that I was going to have to do it."
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Ian says that despite how uncomfortable it can be to do these scenes, it is important to portray the issue of coercive control properly so it can raise awareness of when it happens in real life.
The actor also said that because of the current pandemic, he hasn't been out and about that much so people haven't had much of a chance to talk to him in the street, but those who have usually praise him for the role rather than thinking he is the character.
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at 7.30pm on ITV. This Morning airs from 10am on ITV every weekday.
Organisations including Women's Aid can provide further support and information on coercive control or coercive behaviour.
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