‘My screen tears are all real’
ACTOR Shayne Ward revealed last night he broke down in tears while filming soap’s darkest ever scenes – because the same thing happened in his own family.
The 33-year-old former X Factor winner admitted he was “heartbroken and honoured” to take on Corrie’s male suicide storyline.
He said he drew on personal family experience to play out Aidan Connor’s final tragic moments.
And Shayne feels there is no better time to get the nation talking about male suicide after the recent deaths of DJ Avicii and Austin Powers star Verne Troyer.
He said: “It was a decision I didn’t take lightly.
“I have had people in my family attempt suicide and someone actually go through and commit suicide. “So I drew on that honest truth. “You either do it with conviction or you don’t. It was from my heart. I was saying goodbye for Aidan, he’s been my buddy for three years.”
He found it distressing to watch the final cut of next week’s episode. “Watching the episode back was heartbreaking, I was hyperventilating, there’s no let-up in it,” he said.
“I cried. I cried filming it, the tears you see on screen are all real.”
Shayne, who won The X Factor in 2005, joined Corrie in 2015 and revealed he was pleased to be leaving after the biggest role of his career.
He said: “I knew from the moment they told me how powerful the message was that we were putting out and how impactful it would be.
“It was so poignant at the moment with the deaths of DJ Avicii and Verne Troyer.
“I was in a position to say: ‘Do I do this or don’t I?’ I could see how big it was and how it was bigger than anything else I ever do.”
Unlike his character, Shayne admits he often opens up about his struggles. “I am a talker and I believe in talking, it is something that I try and instil in my friends and family if they are going through hard times.
“If you’re alone with your thoughts and demons it puts you in that dark place and it’s hard to get out.
“A lot of men think it is a weakness to talk and it isn’t. I have sat there with my own thoughts and it doesn’t work.”
Shockingly, 76% of all suicides in Britain are by men, and only 55% of men who suffer from depression decide to talk about it – compared to 67% of women.
It is more common than road traffic accidents.
Shayne admits adding Aidan’s final scene alone in the flat himself after telling producers he did not want his last moments to be in the pub. He says: “I felt like we couldn’t end it in the pub. I needed an extra scene so it was my creation to have him back at his flat, simply crying.
“There’s unpacked boxes and finally people see – of course you were always thinking about it. It all falls into place that he was struggling.”