Yahoo News Corrie star reacts to Andy's return from the dead
Coronation Street has done it again – pulling off another shock twist by bringing Andy Carver back from the dead.
Fans thought they'd seen the last of Andy when Phelan bashed him over the head with a laptop in January, but Friday's double bill ended with the big reveal that he's actually been held captive in a dark and dingy cellar ever since.
So, how did Corrie pull off such a big surprise? How has Andy coped for the last eight months? And what's next for him and Phelan? Oliver Farnworth, who plays Andy, answers all your burning questions right here.
When did you first find out that there was a plan to bring Andy back?
"I had an inkling about it even before I left last time, because I had a meeting with [Corrie producer] Kate Oates who pitched the idea to me. Obviously I was hugely excited about it and said yes there and then, but Kate needed to then go away and speak to the storyline and writing team and think about it and come up with ideas.
"At that stage, it was just a very small kernel grain of an idea in her head for the future and she had to sound other people out to make sure they were on board and fortunately they were, so here we are."
So at the time you didn't know when it would happen?
"I had no idea it would be eight months away. I knew that they had already storylined three months on from the attack on Andy, but fortunately everything all fell into place and when they finally called, I was available for the filming dates."
Had you ever worried that Andy was properly dead?
"When I first read the scripts where Phelan attacked Andy, I thought he was dead – I think we all did. Luckily that meeting with Kate came not too far after, so I knew he may still be alive but nothing had been finalised. I was in some weird sort of limbo, so I had mixed feelings, really.
"When some months later I was finally told the storyline, I thought it was amazing and I couldn't recall a time it had been done before in a soap. I also felt it was not beyond the realms of possibility, because you see cases in the news like this. I felt it was a brilliant original credible story that we would put the meat on the bones of."
How important was it to keep it a secret?
"I knew it had to be pretty secret from the off, but as Kate evolved the storyline, it became more and more apparent that a big reveal of what has been going on is what would make this story work best from the outset. It has been fun, difficult, exciting and challenging to keep that secret going."
Have you told anybody what you have been up to?
"I have told a few close friends and family – an inner circle that I would trust with my life – but apart from that no-one else really knew, even a lot of people at Corrie didn't know."
To preserve the secrecy, we've heard that you weren't even allowed to come into the building and see all of your friends in the green room and canteen! How did that feel?
"I felt a bit like a movie star, being driven in my own personal car to set every day and coming out with sunglasses on and a hood over my head to avoid the paparazzi. I thought it was ultimately hilarious and part of the challenge, so I accepted that.
"It helped in some ways for the role and mental preparation to be isolated from everyone in that way. At Corrie there is a great green room where everyone relaxes and chats, and it adds to the convivial atmosphere that the show creates.
"But because the storyline is so dark and isolated, filming away from the normal set has been helpful. Even on location at lunchtime, I would take myself off without thinking and sit in my dressing room and eat on my own. Not because I was being anti-social, but you just get into that mindset.
"I am by no means a method actor, but keeping that going all day really helped to get into the mindset of the role."
How much research did you do? Did you read any of the stories about people being held captive?
"Yes, there are very dark and awful stories that you hear. The Fritzl case I was aware of and crimes of that ilk. As an actor you have to have that awareness and that knowledge. I didn't look at specific cases, as each one is different and Andy's journey is something I need to think about and create on my own.
"I spent a lot of time just thinking about the different stages he would have been through during the past eight months – from hope to despair, to seeing Phelan as an arch-enemy, to sometimes possibly even seeing him as a friend.
"If Phelan leaves him alone for a few days without food, the second he comes in with a sandwich, he has to be his best friend as Phelan has got something that Andy needs for survival."
How did you find growing the beard for your comeback?
"I knew that was coming, so I spent about three months growing my beard and my hair and I grew my nails a bit longer. When I get on set they put an olive oil spray in my hair, so it is really lank and greasy. They put dirt all over me, and stuff under my fingernails. It sounds like dressing up, but that and putting on filthy clothes really helps get you into the mindset of the character."
What is the basement set like?
"The set is absolutely incredible. It is an inch for inch remake of one of the worst basements you have ever seen. It has wet musty damp walls, but it has a '60s kitchen area in one corner that at some point has been ripped out, but some of the old wallpaper is still there and old light switches that don't work.
"The attention to detail has been amazing and getting in that room all helps with feeling how Andy would feel. I have taken to putting my own chains around my leg – it's something I do as a kind of ritual. It just helps me to go through the motions before every take and I lock myself up, so it reaffirms where Andy is at and his plight."
How do you feel at the end of the day after filming in such an oppressive set?
"Relieved to be in the open air. If we finish filming early, to come out and see sunlight, you really appreciate it. You don't take a nice day for granted. If we had been filming in the middle of winter it might have been a different story. It's not too difficult to shake it off, though."
What sort of a state is Andy in after eight months locked away?
"I filled in a lot of it myself. I imagined the states he would have gone through in those eight months, and we join the storyline where he is in a state of almost feeling the end coming and he is just desperate."
Do you feel some sort of Stockholm syndrome has set in? What is his relationship with Phelan?
"Stockholm syndrome is something I researched and it is an interesting phenomenon. If you spend that amount of time as someone's prisoner, then there is a bond of sorts between Andy and Phelan and a kind of dependency that Andy has on Phelan, but it also might have started to work the other way round.
"Phelan has kept him there for all this time – why? What is Phelan gaining from it? He could have killed Andy eight months ago or numerous times since. He has the perfect place to dispose of the body, he knows that no-one is really looking for Andy any more, Steph thinks she has been dumped, Luke is annoyed with him so no longer looking for him."
Andy is probably the only person who knows the true Phelan, isn't he?
"Yes, he is the only person who knows every face of Phelan and every side of him. Some people know 'nice Phelan', some people have been crossed by him, but Andy is the only person who knows everything about him.
"When the door bolts go and Andy knows Phelan is coming, he never knows which face of Phelan he is going to get. Is Phelan angry? Is he going to use him as a punchbag? Has he had a good day? Is he going through a good spell? Will he have brought him treats? Will he want to confide something in him? Will he want to sit there and rage? Will he want to cry in front of Andy?
"It is a very controlling relationship. Andy never knows who will walk through that door as Phelan is so many different people. It is almost like Phelan has got him there as something to rage at, talk at and doesn't feel he needs to hold anything back from Andy, so he has seen many sides of him."
Can you tell us more about keeping the secret while filming?
"It has been brilliant. We have had a few tricks up our sleeve. I have had a car collect me and take me everywhere hidden in the back. I haven't been able to walk to work or get the tram to Media City.
"When we film on location, we had a plan where I was driven to one place in my car, switched with a member of the production who was dressed in the same coat and hat, whilst I was put in a Land Rover under coats and he was put in my car and driven to the location. The pap took pictures of him and I was driven up a lane to another entrance and managed to avoid being papped.
"All the secrecy and filming the scenes is very different to how I have worked before on Corrie, from the lighting to the way it has been shot. It has been challenging but in a really good way. I have relished it, playing the same character I did before but a kind of crumpled up and put back together version, who doesn't know what is going to happen to him next and has no control over his life."
What has it been like working with Connor McIntyre, who plays Phelan?
"He is brilliant. He is fantastic on screen, but off screen too. He is great on set, he always wants to find every grain of truth we can get in a scene. He wants to rehearse them, which I enjoy doing as well. He is very generous as an actor. We learn from everyone we work with and I have definitely learned from him."
Why hasn't Phelan killed Andy?
"We just don't know, he could have killed him during the attack in the heat of the moment, but it is different now if someone is still alive. He has never killed in cold blood. He watched Michael die, but he didn't actually do it. He has moral responsibilities, he has real Catholic guilt as we saw in the confessional."
Do you fear for Andy now that the net is closing in on Phelan? Is Andy in more danger?
"I think so and I think what we see now is desperation from Andy. He has seen a shift in Phelan's behaviour, an air that Phelan is acting more on a knife edge. Phelan is even more unpredictable and strained, which is why he thinks the time has come to try and escape."
What kind of reaction do you get from people when you're out and about? Have people said they think Andy might still be alive?
"Yes, definitely some people. My litmus test is the ladies in my local Co-op, who I used to chat to when I was in the show the first time around. They have been asking me what I am up to and some of them say they think Andy might be alive and some say he is definitely dead.
"They did give me some advice about getting another acting job though. They said maybe I should think about shaving off the beard and getting a haircut as it probably isn't helping. At least now I can go and tell them why I looked like that!"
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV.
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