ON THE COVER Beverley Callard “I’m happiest in trackie bottoms and a big T-shirt!”
Beverley Callard is nothing like her Corrie character, Liz McDonald, but is happy to stay on the cobbles into her 80s
She’s often made-up to the eyeballs, tottering in stilettoes and a mini skirt! But when it comes to off-screen style, Coronation Street stalwart Beverley Callard says she could not be more different from her colourful alter ego.
While barmaid Liz McDonald is happiest pulling pints in Lycra, Beverley prefers to spend her days dressed down with a paintbrush in her hands at the home she shares with her husband of eight years, Jon McEwan.
“I love painting, decorating and restoring furniture,” she enthuses. “If I could, I would spend every day painting, wearing no make-up, hair in a scrunchie, wearing trackie bottoms and Jon’s big T-shirt.
“I just love getting lost in mixing colours. I do arty stuff – rag-rolling, sponging and marbling. Now one of my neighbours wants me to do a special wall and Farrow & Ball want to put a picture of one of my walls on their website!
“It’s quite therapeutic. When I’m painting I’m not a wife, I’m not a mother, I’m not an actor; I’m just myself.”
There is, however, one downside… “I end up with paint stuck to my nails,” she laughs. “I was filming a scene in the Rovers and had to wear rubber gloves because I had emulsion stuck on my hands and we didn’t have a chance to clean it off!
“I’m the opposite to Liz. I shot a scene last week and it said in the stage directions: ‘Liz is dressed to the nines.’ Believe me, I was dressed to the tens! I literally looked like a tasselled lampshade! I didn’t dare step out of my dressing room. The outfits are brilliant for the character but I hide rather than be as brazen as Liz.”
But Beverley has no complaints, having been handed her most dramatic storyline since joining the show 29 years ago.
Viewers have just seen the shock return of Liz’s volatile ex-husband Jim, and with a young woman named Hannah in tow, he explains she is actually their daughter Katie – the child they thought had died at birth in hospital.
Liz is shocked to the core and in emotional scenes, meets Hannah for lunch and later heads to Katie’s grave where she breaks down.
“I have to be honest, at first I was a little bit dubious about the story,” Beverley says frankly. “It seemed a bit strange that their daughter, who died 26 years ago, was actually alive.
“But then, because it involved the whole of the McDonald family, it seemed to be a great opportunity to
Beverley now has her most dramatic storyline since she joined Corrie
get Charlie Lawson (Jim) back in the show, which I’ve wanted for such a long time.
“And once I was told the entirety of the story, I could see it was something really interesting and a real challenge. I love emotional scenes and that’s the best thing about playing Liz; she
gets lots of comedy, but she does get lots of scenes with no make-up – it goes from one extreme to another.” Although Liz’s son, Steve, is unconvinced by Hannah’s story and requests a DNA test, Liz is delighted to have her daughter back in her life – and when Hannah collapses from ill-health Liz asks her to move in with her so she can take care of her. But has Jim captured Liz’s heart, too? “Without doubt there’s a chemistry between them,” Beverley says. “Somebody described them as the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton of Coronation Street and we just loved that.” Beverley, 60, who lives in Manchester with husband Jon, has an infectious joie de vivre. She has two grown-up children, Rebecca and Josh from a previous marriage, and two grandchildren. And when she’s not at work or with her family she can be found at a local gym where she teaches fitness classes.
It’s little wonder then that her bucket list contains no mention of the word retirement. “I don’t think I’ll ever retire – I’d be really bored,” says Beverley, who has previously had time away from the cobbles to try her hand at other roles.
“I don’t know whether I would leave again either, because I’m loving being here and how they’re writing for Liz and I love sleeping in my own bed at night now. I’m not sure I’d want to sleep in digs every night on a theatre tour.
“I would pray that Liz’s skirts were a bit longer if I was still in the show in my 80s, but I think I’ll still be here. I’d like to be.”