You ASK...
Laurence may be new to the cobbles, but he’s certainly made an impact – especially on Sean! We put your questions to Rob, who tells us he’s no stranger to the world of television…
“Who out of your friends and family had the biggest reaction to you joining Coronation Street?”
My friend Jack screamed down the phone for some time, which was a good reaction! My sister was delighted, she was driving at the time so had to call me back for a proper debrief. The fun part of getting any job is to share it with your friends and family. With Corrie, it’s such a big show that everybody has a reference point for it.
“Were you a fan of Corrie before you joined? And who is your alltime favourite character?”
I grew up in Leeds and Corrie is just part of life. About 10 years ago I played a copper in Coronation Street, and when I arrived, one of the first people I ran into was Sue Nicholls [aka Audrey]. She immediately offered to make a cup of tea, then when I was leaving, she asked how it all went. I love Sue, and I love Audrey!
“Laurence is a dentist; how would you fare if you chose that career?”
When I tell people I’m playing ‘Laurence the dentist’, their eyes dart to my teeth to see if they’re all right! I’ve got friends who are dentists, so when I got the job, they offered for me to shadow them. But I’m not sure I’d be good in real life, as I don’t like going to the dentist.
“Who was the first person in Corrie who showed you the ropes?”
Antony Cotton [who plays Sean] has been fantastic in supporting me. He reached out to me before my first day of filming to ask me how I was, and asked me out to breakfast. Antony introduced me to everybody. Then my first scene was also Jodie Prenger’s [aka Glenda Shuttleworth] first day on set, so we were able to go “Oh my god, we’re in the Rover’s Return!”.
“What’s it like having Antony as your on-screen love interest?”
It’s brilliant and really fun, we have a lot of laughs
“Can you tell us about your part in EastEnders: Ricky & Bianca?”
when we film. Antony is a great storyteller, so it’s good to be around him on set. As a consequence of Laurence dating Sean, a lot of the scenes are in the Grimshaw house, so there’s plenty of fun to be had between takes!
“Can you tell us about the spin-off show EastEnders: Ricky &
Bianca, that you were in?”
Yes, it was great! That was my firstever TV job and I ended up putting my fist through a glass pane door. The adrenaline of the moment got the better of me and we ended up having to call an early lunch. My scenes were with Patsy [Palmer, who played Bianca], and we hung out a lot in the trailer. She’s a TV legend!
“Aside from Corrie, what have been some of your favourite TV jobs?”
[Laughs] Now that I have nieces and nephews, I need to dig out the two episodes of The Basil Brush Show I was in. I played a TV director in the spoof of EastEnders, I think it was called Cockney Sparrows. Holby City was great, and I’ve had cameos in lots of dramas, but Basil Brush was probably the most fun.
“You enjoy travelling – where are your favourite places to head to?”
I do love travelling, it’s a passion of mine. I’m a big skier, so I enjoy getting out into the mountains in winter. I have a campervan as well, so heading off in that is always fun. One place I’ve discovered recently is Lisbon in Portugal. It’s one of my favourite cities: beautiful, cheap, lovely people, great vibes and architecture.
“If you weren’t acting, what would you be doing for a living?”
I’d like to be Mark Chapman, he’s got the best job in the world. To be presenting 5 Live Sport would be my other dream career. He gets to watch the best sporting events in the world and talk about it with professional sports people, it sounds fantastic to me!
“Would you like to see Laurence’s family joint the street? And who would you cast to play them?”
Laurence is quite cagey about his family, isn’t he? There’s clearly some stuff that has gone on in the past, some of which isn’t true, based on Todd’s amateur investigations. We found out that Bob Dylan is a fan of Coronation Street so why couldn’t he make a cameo? And I’m pushing for Matthew Kelly to come in as Laurence’s dad!
“Who showed you the ropes on Corrie?”