-
Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd on 16 years as David, Paula Lane's exit - and the film he's made with Ben Price
The Corrie actor reflects on his history in Weatherfield and a new role away from the ITV soap
http://images.radiotimes.com/namedim...nal/105231.jpg
For Jack P Shepherd, this is an anniversary week. He’s just marked 16 years on Coronation Street, which means that the 28-year-old actor has spent over half his life playing the role of David Platt.
“Yeah, I started Corrie when I was 12, so I’ve been David longer than I’ve been just Jack, so that’s weird,” he admits. “It is over half my life, but it’s not like I’ve spent the time in prison, do you know what I mean?”
You can get a lesser sentence for murder, though, I point out. He laughs, good-naturedly. “That’s true. But it’s a good job and it’s a nice life. Although I am about to do a night shoot from nine at night until six in the morning. Can you believe that?”
Ah yes, the dreaded nightshoots, this one set to feature yet more drama for the Platts, who since September 2015 have been concealing the fact that the corpse of drug dealer Callum Logan has been stashed down Gail’s manhole at number eight. But secrets (and cadavers) never stay buried for long in soapland and Shepherd doesn’t mind keeping irregular hours to tell the next chapter in his screen family’s saga.
“If it’s raining or snowing then people can get irritated. But if it’s dry and we’re cracking on and what we’re filming is good, then we’re usually in high spirits. Plus The Masters are on tonight, so we can watch some of that until midnight. We only have another six hours to go after that.”
Another chuckle, something that comes readily to Shepherd, but not so much to David, who has traditionally got by on sarcastic sneers and malevolent plotting. In fact, Shepherd even laughs when I cheekily note the amount of dead bodies dumped beneath Coronation Street landmarks, this latest being mere yards from where John Stape got rid of Colin Fishwick at the Underworld knicker factory.
“Well, soaps always have these type of things that get repeated. It’s real life but blown out of proportion a little bit. You’ve got to have some drama, haven’t you? We all share the same storylines: Brookside did it, EastEnders have done it too. So these things get passed around – whoever’s flavour of the month gets a body buried under their floor,” he jokes.
However, this latest cliffhanger plotline has proved to be bittersweet, seeing as it’s led both to a Best Actor nomination for Shepherd at this year’s British Soap Awards and the announcement that Paula Lane, who plays his screen wife Kylie, is to leave the show. Shepherd, though - who in his decade and a half in Weatherfield has already witnessed the departures of both David’s dad Martin and a previous incarnation of brother Nick - is sanguine about what lies ahead.
“If I come away with an award then that would be a bonus. As for Paula, it’s not a sad thing. She wanted to leave, so it’s not like they wanted to get rid of her. And obviously, she’s going off to have another child and be a mother for a bit. And then she’ll probably get back into it.”
But will he miss the relationship between David and Kylie? “Yes, they’re a good partnership. I’ve always said that. So it’ll be a shame when that goes. But there might be somebody else – who knows?”
http://www.radiotimes.com/uploads/im...nal/105233.jpg
Corrie itself has always thrived on double acts and just as important to David as his marriage is that sibling bond with Nick (played since 2009 by Ben Price), which has survived Nick sleeping with Kylie and David orchestrating a van crash that left Nick with a permanent brain injury (keep up! This is real life blown out of proportion, remember!)
And that David-and-Nick partnership has now taken a fresh twist with Shepherd starring in a thought-provoking short film called Taubman, written and directed by Corrie co-star Price. The movie, set in the near future, sees Shepherd feature as an officious bureaucrat who refuses to give a passport to a Jewish piano tuner (played by former Corrie star Ian Puleston-Davies).
As well as offering a timely allegory about such issues as asylum, immigration and freedom of movement, Taubman also gives Shepherd the opportunity to flex very different acting muscles to the ones he uses playing David.
“There’s a scene at the end where I have the tables turned on me and I almost start to cry. And because I’m so used to Corrie’s cameras not picking up the tears in your eyes, I felt like I had to give it the full guns, so that everyone could see it.
“When we’d done a take, I felt like I needed to go again. But Ben insisted that he’d seen everything he needed to and that I should trust him. And he was right. When I got to see the finished film, I was a bit speechless at how good it was.”
http://www.radiotimes.com/uploads/im....JPG?width=620
And was it easy being directed by big brother? “I really didn’t think about it like that,” he says. “It didn’t enter my head that he was my brother by day and my director by night. It just worked. And we had a lot of laughs making it. We’d finish work at seven in the evening and we’d cleared it with ITV to then rehearse the film at the studios until midnight. Then we’d go home and learn our Coronation Street lines and come back to do our actual jobs.”
So has it inspired him to follow in Price’s footsteps? “Not to direct. I’ve never fancied it. I think I’m too vain! If I was directing, I’d be wanting to say, ‘no, change places with me. I’ll do it. Watch what I do'.”
Of course, the current trend among stars of the Street is to temporarily leave Weatherfield behind and pursue outside projects – David Neilson, Les Dennis and Brooke Vincent among those taking on roles in the theatre. So will Taubman be the start of a break away from David Platt?
“Obviously, if something came about and it was too good an offer to turn down, then of course I would want to do it. And, as you say, there are a lot of people who are going off to do something else while not leaving the show. They’re coming back. So, that’s an idea.
“I have loved being at Corrie, but doing this film with Ben has opened my eyes. It’s been entered into film festivals, so if it does well, we could be at the Oscars.”
So might he be swapping the Soap Awards for the Academy Awards? “Well, there’s a slim possibility,” he says, with the David-style tone of a man with a plan. “But we’re not getting carried away!”
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...with-ben-price
I'd be very interested to see Ben Price's film starring Jack P Shepherd. It also stars former Corrie actor Ian Puleston-Davies. Here's another article about the film:
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...onation-street
-
Coronation Street spoilers: David Platt set for sizzling new romance as Kylie leaves Weatherfield?
Coronation Street's Jack P. Shepherd has teased a new romance may be on the cards for his character this year.
The 28-year-old actor has hinted that his stylist alter-ego David Platt could nab himself a new love interest when his wife Kylie Platt (Paula Lane) leaves the Cobbles this month.
Asked if he'll miss Paula when she bows out, he said: "Yes, they're a good partnership. I've always said that. So it'll be a shame when that goes. But there might be somebody else."
But, although he'll miss the chemistry he has with the brunette beauty on-screen, Jack is convinced Paula - who is leaving to have her second child - will likely return in the near future.
He said: "As for Paula, it's not a sad thing. She wanted to leave, so it's not like they wanted to get rid of her. And obviously, she's going off to have another child and be a mother for a bit. And then she'll probably get back into it."
Sarah is really struggling with the Platt's secret and the pressure is just getting too much for her
Meanwhile, as Jack celebrates 16 years on the soap, the handsome star is open to spreading his wings but is adamant he'll never turn his back on the show for good.
Asked if he would leave the programme temporarily to do other things, he told the Radio Times Online: "If something came about and it was too good an offer to turn down, then of course I would want to do it."
-
Coronation Street star Paula Lane has revealed that she and husband Tom Shaw are expecting a baby girl.
Paula is set to leave her role as Kylie Platt mere weeks before she's expected to give birth – but the planning is already under way.
"'I did have a tough labour with [son Arthur]," she told OK Magazine. "I was desperate to do hypnobirthing.
"I think I panicked – it was the shock of the pain, although you're not supposed to call it that with hypnobirthing.
"It was a full-on labour and it hit me like a ten-ton truck… This time around I am planning on being much more calm! I'm going into hospital."
Paula also opened up about her impending departure from Corrie, and why now is the right time to leave.
"If Kylie was a piano, I've played every single key on that board," she quipped. "I don't think you could do much more than she has done!"
She continued: "It has been a blessing of a job. I just knew I wanted to try my hand at something else. I'm hearing good things so I'm excited about the future."
Paula and her husband Tom Shaw celebrate their second wedding anniversary next month.
Digital Spy
-
I thought that maybe Kylie can be sent down for Callum's murder that way she will be out of the street for everrrrrrrrrrr,
I am still waiting for Callum to show up, is this not what the plan is? thou of course if he does appear then she can't be charged with his murder, or he could kill her for trying to kill him?
Yea that's it, good story
-
I thought that maybe Kylie can be sent down for Callum's murder that way she will be out of the street for everrrrrrrrrrr,
I am still waiting for Callum to show up, is this not what the plan is? thou of course if he does appear then she can't be charged with his murder, or he could kill her for trying to kill him?
Yea that's it, good story
-
-
Jack Shepherd refuses to meet with Coronation Street boss
Coronation Street’s new chief Kate Oates has been having meetings with the cast to discuss the future of their characters, but there’s one person she just can’t pin down – Jack P Shepherd.
The actor, who plays David Platt, says she’s asked him to have a meeting with her but he knocked her back because he doesn’t want to have an input in what happens to his alter ego.
Instead he trusts the show’s writers to come up with even more drama on the cobbles.
Jack explained: “Our new producer, Kate Oates, has tried to have a meeting with me but I said no, I don’t ever want to chat to producers.
“I don’t want to get involved in my storylines. I didn’t want to go upstairs for that chat! I never want to go upstairs!
“I don’t want the input, it’s their job to give me it. If I wasn’t happy I would say something, but I’m lucky enough to be part of the Platts and we’re always there or there abouts on screen.
“Any lines that don’t sit right we change on the day, on the floor, but the writers know David a lot better than I do.”
Next week Jack finds himself in the thick of the action as Callum Logan’s dead body is finally discovered. However, Jack admits that the discover has come rather early.
He said: “We first got told the body wouldn’t be found for five years but it’s actually been 6 months. But it was always going to have to be a big reveal.
“The story had run its course with us just looking shifty and nervous. We couldn’t drag it out. There’s more drama in uncovering the body.”
ITV
-
Paula Lane waves goodbye to Coronation Street after filming final scenes as Kylie Platt
Paula Lane has waved goodbye to Coronation Street after filming her final scenes as former tearaway Kylie Platt.
The 30-year-old actress is bowing out after playing beautician Kylie since 2010.
The actress, who is expecting her second child - a baby girl - with her husband Tom Shaw, took a photo of her final time in the makeup chair at Corrie and posted it on Twitter with the words “last day on the street today! A whole host of emotions buzzing around right now! Last ever make up complete.”
And she marked her departure by sharing a photo on Twitter of the Platt family with the caption #wearefamily.
She also shared a photos of her with her on-screen hubby Jack P Shepherd who plays David Platt, with the words “what will I do without this one?! @JackPShepherd88 #soulmateofthestreet #K&D” and a photo of her walking along the cobbles for the last time.
Paula recently held her leaving party at On The 7th bar, which is located close to the show’s ITV studios with a host of co-stars including Helen Worth who plays her on-screen mum Gail Platt and Catherine Tyldesley who plays Eva Price.
Paula’s exit, screened later this summer, will focus on the climax of the gripping storyline which saw Kylie kill Callum Logan in a sensational live episode in September.
Kylie whacked her evil ex Callum over the back of the head with a metal wrench after months of torment for the Platt family
David returned home and helped hide the body under a manhole in the Platts’ garage, which Gail had converted into a granny flat.
She said previously: “This has not been an easy decision for me to make. I have enjoyed every moment of my time on Coronation Street and learnt so much in the process.
“I have an amazing on-screen family who have become friends for life so this decision was not taken lightly. But sometimes you just have to follow your heart and I am excited about what the future has to offer both personally and professionally.”
Coronation Street
Some of the cast have been filming a funeral scene and rumours are rife that Kylie will die ... as yet not confirmed though
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0...43&oe=57F84500
-
-
I hope she gets a good send off, unlike Carla and - it seems likely - Jason.
