Former Coronation Street star Gray O'Brien, who played evil Tony Gordon in the long running ITV soap from 2007 to 2010 has said playing the villainous role almost ruined his career. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk over the phone during rehearsals for his latest role in a stage production of Twleve Angry Men he said in his instantly recognisable Scottish lilt: "It is the death of a career - the Corrie villain. It's just almost impossible to work afterwards in television.
"You're labelled so badly because you're so well known [from it]. They really overexpose you on that show. You end up allowing every other storyline to happen - everybody gets involved. You become the Venn diagram, if you like. So it's very lucrative and it's very good for the number of years you're in. But you come out and people say they can't use you because you're just too well known. I used to walk down the street or I was in a corner street, and every single person would go: 'You alright, Tony. It was like everybody knew you," he laughed.
The character was a very memorable bad guy from the off. He arranged the murder of Liam Connor (Robert James-Collier) out of jealousy after discovering he had an affair with his fiancée (and later wife) Carla Connor (Alison King).
After confessing all to Carla, he later entered a relationship and became engaged to Liam's widow, Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon). Overcome by guilt he eventually confessed to the murder and tried to kill Roy Cropper (David Nielsen) before turning himself in to the police in late 2009.
That wasn't the end of his story though as he broke out of prison in May 2010, returned to Weatherfield seeking revenge, and in a dramatic siege week held hostages before dying in an explosion he caused at the Underworld factory.
Prior to his stint in Corrie he played a far more palatable character. He starred as Senior House Officer doctor Richard McCaig in Casualty between 1996 and 1998. Sadly, his character was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis which meant he was written out of the show.
"We had a discussion about it. They said we've given you this character that's just going to become debilitated, and you'll get to the point where you won't be able to work so that was a bit unfortunate for me," he quipped.
However, he claims the public reaction to that role is very different. "A lot of people think they recognise you, but they can't quite put their finger on it. So they'll say, 'Did you used to cut my hair? Do you do windows? Are you a window cleaner?' Because they know you. They recognise you."
His latest role is the decidedly decent juror number eight in the play Twelve Angry Men, the classic legal drama about twelve jurors who must decicde the fate of an 18-year-old boy accused of murdering his father. It also stars fellow Corrie alum Tristan Gemmill (Robert Preston) and Bill Ward (Charlie Stubbs). Gray's role was played by Henry Fonda in the famous 1957 movie and he describes it as a "bucket list part".
"Most most actors I speak to will say: 'Oh, I'd love to play that role - it's just one of those classics.' Atticus Finch [in To Kill A Mockingbird] is another one as well. There's certain roles you want to play. You want to play Frank in Educating Rita. So it is a bucket list moment for me. You know, you're in good hands because it's such a well-written play."
Twelve Angry Men will tour the UK from September 1. Tickets and venue information are available here.