HARD-HITTING
STEPPING out of the room, Chris Harper tried to blink the tears away. But nothing could stop the emotion as he listened to the heartbreaking words of a woman called Lucie, who had been raped when she was a child and groomed by a paedophile as a teenager.
The Coronation Street actor said: “I went into the stairwell after the meeting and burst into tears.”
He plays evil Nathan Curtis, who groomed, abused and trafficked teenager Bethany Platt in the ITV soap. And he will never forget the moment he first met a sexual abuse victim.
The meeting had been arranged by the charity NSPCC to help give Chris an insight into the psychology behind the predator he would be playing.
The 40-year-old recalls how he told her how brave she was, before rushing out of the meeting room.
Chris said: “She was abused very young, and when she was a teenager she was groomed by a guy she met online. She thought she was in love with him, and scared to lose him but he was abusing her the whole time.
“That was something I learned early on, that victims of abuse are often abused multiple times in their lives because predators spot vulnerable people to attack.
“I also discovered through Lucie and others how abuse can affect their entire lives. Just a few minutes of abuse can change their life forever.”
Chris has since met hundreds of victims, including some of those who suffered during the Rotherham sex-abuse scandal, through his work with the NSPCC and similar charities such as Barnardo’s and Voicing CSA. But it hasn’t got any easier for him. Now, his hard-hitting storyline in Coronation Street is reaching a climax.
This week, Corrie fans will see if evil Nathan will get what’s coming to him as he stands trial for abusing Bethany.
Incredibly, Chris hasn’t received any backlash. Instead, he’s had people approach him in the street to congratulate him on raising awareness of the terrible issue. He reckons as many as one in five of those who want to shake his hand have been affected by abuse.
The actor said: “People will come up and tell me how one of their parents was abused, or how their uncle is now in prison for abuse or how their PE teacher abused them.”
Sometimes they can’t find the words
A ticket guard came up, held my hand and said, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing’ CHRIS HARPER