Luca Toolan was snubbed by Coronation Street bosses twice before landing the role of Mason Radcliffe.
The young star has joined the cast of the ITV soap as part of a bullying storyline involving Liam Connor (Charlie Wrenshall) who has been victim of abuse from bully Mason for months and has even contemplated taking his own life.
However, the newcomer has revealed that he has previously tried out to play other characters before landing the role of Mason last year.
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Speaking to host Lee Salisbury on the Soap From The Box podcast, he said: “I actually auditioned for two roles for Corrie before I got the Mason part so keep persevering and something will come off. Auditioning is daunting because most of those actors going in for the screen test, especially for my role, probably this is their first screen test it’s something completely alien. It feels like you shouldn’t really be there.
“It was completely surreal when I did my screen test with Liam McCheyne, who plays Dylan Wilson, and he was an absolute gem to do it with. He took me aside before we started and calmed me down and gave me words of advice and completely set my head straight. I had the same feeling on my first day of filming like I did on my screen test like ‘What am I doing here?’
Luca also admitted that he’s shocked at how far Mason’s bullying has gone. He said: “”When I got the job, the only thing they mentioned was that the character was going to pull out a knife and threaten Liam. I knew he was gonna be completely and utterly troubled and cause carnage. I sort of licked my lips and thought this was a juicy character I could get into. With regards to the extent to how cruel Mason would be to Liam, they sort of described it as a bully but I’ve been surprised to be extent to the cruelty of Mason.”
In recent scenes, Mason has ordered Dylan to take the blame for Liam’s bullying and Luca has revealed that he’s been bombarded with messages from viewers about the hard-hitting storyline. He said: “It’s been interesting. They prepped me from day one so going into it I knew what to expect. It’s something that come part of the parcel of the role. You have to bare the responsibility of the backlash. It’s ironic online bully gets bullied online.”
(Image: ITV)
“The reaction has shocked me to the extent of which it has effected people. I knew it was going to be a big storyline but I didn’t know it would hit home for as many people. Every single day I’m getting messages from people saying this is making me cry or their own personal stories of being bullied. It’s touched so many people because it’s such a relatable storyline.”
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV1 and ITVX at 8pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
