Coronation Street star Antony Cotton was forced to call the police after he was hit by hundreds of vile messages.
The actor, who plays Sean Tully, says screen legend Sir Ian McKellen helped him beat the vicious haters who penned “tens of thousands” of posts about him in online forums.
He says the Lord of the Rings icon gave him “the best bit of advice” that he has ever received.
Antony, who has been with his partner Peter Eccleston for 14 years, said: “This was before Twitter.
“There was this hateful forum on a website that just used to go on and on and on about me.
Anthony has opened up about his trolling hell after getting hundreds of messages (Image: Getty Images)
“I’m talking tens of thousands of messages from these vile trolls that would talk about me.
“One day I got really upset.
“The police had to be involved once because they were talking about really weird stuff and I got really, really upset.
“He called me and I told him what was happening.
Sean Tully has been on the soap since 2013 (Image: ITV)
“He said, ‘What anybody else thinks of you is none of your business. Just think about that.’
“And from that day forward I did it, I just stopped caring what people thought of me.”
X-Men star Sir Ian has become a mentor and enlightens the soap ace with the most “profound” advice regularly.
The soap star said: “He inspired me and I love the bones of him.
Hollywood star Ian McKellen helped Sean face the trolls with some enlightening words (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Pau)
“He taught me so many lessons.
“He probably knew they were good lessons but he wasn’t doing it to teach me, but to show me the way.
“He’s told me some of the most profound things that I’ve ever been told, they’ve all come from him.”
The star has also never phoned in sick in 17 years on the cobbles because he is scared of getting sacked.
Anthony also revealed he has never called in sick to Corrie as he’s scared of getting sacked (Image: ITV)
He said: “I’ve never even thought I’m going to have to.
“I have schlepped my a** into work, I’ve crawled on my hands and knees.
“I’ve said, ‘I’m really not well, I need you to do it right now’.
“But I’ll film the scene and then I’ll go home.
“I’ve never phoned in sick in 17 years and that comes from Oldham Theatre Workshop.
“The reason I’ve never rang in sick in 17 years is because I don’t want anybody else to play my part.
“They might just say, ‘Take another day off Antony, take another day off because we’ve got somebody in to do it.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
