Ken looks ahead to the future
Corrie’s William Roache is looking far beyond the show’s 60th anniversary…
As Coronation Street heads towards its 60th birthday, original star William Roache (Ken) is thrilled to still be part of the show. But the cobbles legend reckons if his twentysomething self knew what lay ahead, it might have been a different story…
“Oh, if they’d offered me a 60year contract back then I probably would have run a mile!” laughs 87-year-old William. “However, now I feel I’m so fortunate to be acting and working at my age.
Corrie is a wonderful place – I look forward to going to work.”
Over the decades, the actor has seen huge upheaval in the show’s production.
“It’s totally different,” he says. “We used to have three days of rehearsal. Now we have to turn up knowing it and ready to do it. I prefer that, actually – you often get some wonderful spontaneity.”
With this wealth of experience at Corrie, many younger members of the cast have stated how much they look up to William…
“I’m the only one from the first episode, and I’m in the
Guinness World Records book – you’d think a path would be beaten to my dressing room with them all wanting advice,” he explains. “But that’s not the case – I go to the youngsters. They’re all so good and confident, I can learn from them.” And William hopes to break another record – to be the first man to live to 120.
“It’s a possibility,” states the actor, who exercises, meditates and drinks protein shakes. “The body was made to go on forever, as cells renew themselves – ageing is a belief system.
And so long as Corrie stories are characterbased, it could go on forever.”