He's been slaughtered by Patrick McGoohan in Braveheart, and chased naked across a field in Jilly Cooper's The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous. And now, only two days into his role as Greg Kelly
on Coronation Street, actor Stephen
Billington is about to be bashed by
Les Battersby. But despite the
unfortunate introduction, he is thrilled
to have landed the part of Les' long lost son......
"I'm really pleased to be here--Coronation Street is such an institution," Stephen enthuses. When I first came in I felt as if I had met everyone before because they looked so familiar." And he reveals that Bruce Jones who plays loutish Les couldn't be nicer in life. "He really looked after me on the first day and we get on like a house on fire," he laughs. "After the scenes where Les got quite violent, he kept asking if I was alright. He thought it was awful that I had to get beaten up on my first day."
According to Stephen, though, it won't be too long before the mysterious Greg gains the upper hand. The result of a 26-year-old affair between Les and Greg's mother, Moira, he soon wins round most of the Street's residents with his easy charm--even those who are automatically suspicious of anyone with Battersby blood in their veins. But it seems that their trust may be misplaced.
"Greg is a bit of an opportunist," Stephen warns. "He knows he can get his own way by charming people, and he does. I wouldn't say he is callous, but he is basically interested in what can do him the most good and further his own life. He's not really interested in anyone else and he isn't afraid of hurting people."
For now Greg appears to be young, free and single, but it won't be long before he sets his sights on some of the Weatherfield women, and first on the list is dizzy blonde Maxine. Whether or not she should get her hopes up about her new romance is another matter.
"I think every man, however much of a 'love 'em and leave 'em type he is, has the potential to meet the ideal woman and settle down, and Greg is the same but I think he will also break a few hearts,", Stephen warns.
Stephen is no stranger to the role of heart-throb. As Lysander in The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous he played a tennis coach who was paid to romance unhappily married women and restore their confidence until their unfaithful partners saw the error of their ways. And the show involved some very rauchy scenes.
"When I first looked at the scripts I seemed to be naked all the time, and it was pretty daunting," he laughs. "It was very embarrassing at first but I was employed to do a job and I had to just get on with it. We started shooting those scenes at 8 a.m. one morning and didn't finish until 11:30 p.m., and by the time it was over I couldn't have cared less about the nudity."
"It was great fun to do," he adds. "Everything went really smoothly and Jilly Cooper really loved it. She's really lively and witty and she makes you feel at ease immediately--at the end of the show I got a little note form her saying 'You are my Lysander' which was really nice.
"My family really liked it as well, but I think they would like anything I was in," Stephen laughs. "I got my mum and dad down to be extras, and they talked to some others who did amateur dramatics. They're both retired, and Dad decided he would like to try acting, so now he spends all his time at amateur dramatics too."
Stephen's career since leaving drama school has been one success after another. The first role he won was Philip in Mel Gibson's epic movie Braveheart. "I couldn't believe it--my first job was on a $65 million movie," he reveals. "My only fight scenes were cut, which was a shame, but it was such a great experience."
And he is full of admiration for the film's star. "Mel Gibson was great. He's a real megastar, and you expect certain things to go along with that but he turned out to be a really normal bloke, really down to earth and gentle and almost apologetic. It was amazing because he has so much power but he's really a sweet guy."
Stephen also appeared regularly in the first series of police drama Out of the Blue, and has done lots of theatre--including a season with the RSC and recently a Somerset Maugham play, Our Betters, with Kathleen Turner. But now he's going to have to get used to being recognised as Greg Kelly, and he promises that there's a lot more to his character than initially meets the eye.
"He's been brought up in quite a wealthy household, but I should imagine he could do some deals," he continues mysteriously. "He's a chip off the old block really. He has the same ambitions as Les but he has a bit more class, and I think that will enable him to do better than his dad. But it all depends on what twists and turns the writers have planned for him."
Watch this space.....
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