Clan & wife
Soap star Sam’s ‘buzzing’ ahead of his wedding to Sarah and hopes they’ll live happily ever after – even if history suggests it’ll end in disaster
SCOTS soap star Sam Robertson has revealed he feels “really humbled” at being in the centre of Coronation Street’s two big families – the Barlows and the Platts.
Lawyer Adam Barlow, the character the 34-year-old from Dundee has played on and off since 2004, marries Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) in Monday’s episode of the soap.
For Corrie fans it’s a first, bringing two of the best known and best loved families together.
And Sam admitted: “I’m buzzing. I’ve had loads of scenes recently with Helen (Worth, who plays Gail), Sue (Nicholls, who plays Audrey), Lucy (Fallon, who plays Bethany) and Tina, who are four fantastic actresses.
“It’s a real pleasure to work with them, so long may it continue.
“I feel really humbled that I’m involved in scenes at No1 and No8. I’m floating between these two massive families – one that’s mostly patriarchal, with Ken and Peter, then the other that’s very matriarchal, with Gail and Audrey.”
Adam and Sarah have already been involved in big Corrie plots. On Christmas Day last year, he proposed to her in the middle of an armed siege. Will married life start with a bang?
Certainly Sarah’s previous attempts have ended in drama. She was meant to marry Jason Grimshaw but he climbed out of the toilet window in the church and jilted her, then when they eventually did get married her brother David faked his suicide and drove into a canal just for the attention.
Sam, who wears a tartan tie in a nod to his roots, is hopeful Monday’s nuptials will go without a hitch.
He said: “Soap history suggests that two big families coming together will end in disaster but I think there’s potential for some lovely scenes.”
Sarah certainly packs a punch, looking
I think they have great chemistry together SAM ROBERTSON ON CHARACTERS ADAM AND SARAH
sensational in a 20s-style wedding dress. She’s walked down the aisle by her brothers Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) and David Platt ( Jack P Shepherd). Her bridesmaids will be daughter Bethany, her niece Lily (Brooke Malonie), while Harry – her son with the late Callum Logan – is page boy.
It’s another big plot line for Sam and bosses will be hopeful it keeps him in Weatherfield – despite some previous wobbles. In 2004, he was 18 and still studying drama and English at Manchester University when he got the role of Adam, taking over from fellow Scot Iain De Caestecker who’d played the part since 2001.
He said: “My first-ever acting experience was with Tina. She was working on Corrie and I was 18 and being screen-tested. It’s weird that 17 years later I’m working with Tina a lot.”
Sam quit after three years, telling the Record at the time: “Going from being a student to being in a show watched by 10million people was a bit of a culture shock. Being recognised really wasn’t something I’d taken to.”
Sam spent the new few years learning his craft as an actor. He joined
Sky One’s The Match, starred as Flynn in E4 series Beaver Falls and joined rival soap River City in 2009 as Innes Maitland. He also tried out on Celebrity Big Brother in 2013 but was the second housemate to be evicted.
In 2016, he rejoined Corrie but last year asked bosses for 10 weeks off to get his head together. He said: “This job overtakes your life, you can’t leave it at the door on a Friday night, and that was getting to me. I wasn’t enjoying that aspect or the intrusion. I needed the head space to decide if I wanted that long term.
“I realised I had to stop being silly. I’ve got a great job if I could just deal with the intrusion.
“If I’m in a good mood I’ve got all the time in the world but if I’m in a bad mood then I don’t want to speak to anyone. What I’ve realised over time and hanging out with other actors is that, actually, it’s part of the job.
“If you’re going to go out to certain places at certain times – not so much in London but in Manchester and where my family are from in Scotland – you’ve just got to accept it.”
Fans are sure to be asking for more now Sam has become one of Corrie’s big couples and he hopes Adam and Sarah will live happily ever after.
He said: “I’d like to think so, I think they have great chemistry together. Yes, there’s opportunity for conflict but I would like to see them living happily.
“I love working with Tina, I hope she enjoys working with me as much.”
Everyone involved in Monday’s wedding got a bit emotional, mainly because they were also at the wedding of Sinead (Katie McGlynn) and Adam’s uncle Daniel (Rob Mallard). Sinead died in the autumn from cancer and although they were acting memories, it was still raw among the actors for Adam and Sarah’s wedding.
Daniel is Adam’s best man and he breaks down during his speech, from a letter written by Scots designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh to his wife Margaret, which includes the line: “Without you, everything has a flatness. I feel as if I’m waiting for something all the time.”
Sam said: “It was emotional to film because Rob’s such a great actor so it’s easy to empathise with his character.”
In Wednesday’s episode, Daniel has been drinking in the Rovers and rushes into the street and shouts up to Bethany in her flat. When she and mum Sarah appear at the window, Daniel pulls out Sinead’s engagement ring and gets down on one knee.
Sam admitted his character is worried that Daniel will muck up his best man duties.
“He’s really concerned for Daniel’s welfare, it’s a big ask for him to give a speech like that so soon after losing Sinead.
“He’s had a lot of responsibility writing a speech, organising the stag do, but in a roundabout way Adam’s given him that responsibility to bring him out of his shell again and for Daniel to prove to himself that he is capable. Adam hopes he can pull it off.”
● Coronation Street is on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on STV.