Looking under the bonnet of his four decades on Britain’s most famous fictitious street, Michael Le Vell makes an interesting admission about himself and his character, car mechanic Kevin Webster.
Michael says it’s now hard to know where Kevin ends and he begins.
The 57-year-old soap star adds: “I think we’re both very similar. You can’t play a character for 40 years and some of your personality not come through.
“It’s not like you’re playing a different character every week.
“I’ve been Kevin Webster for nearly as long as I’ve been Michael Le Vell, because I started playing him so young. I was 18.”
The actor, whose real name is Michael Turner, is thrilled to be at the centre of another huge storyline, and can hardly believe he is still playing Kevin.
“I had an audition and I got the job, which was for 12 episodes,” he recalls.
“So then I finished those 12 episodes, went off, did panto, then got a call saying ‘do you want to come back?’. And that was nearly 40 years ago now.”
The lucky break came in 1983 courtesy of casting director Judi Hayfield, who had liked his short stint on Corrie in 1981 as paper boy Neil Grimshaw.
Judi ran into him again at Granada TV while he was auditioning for another show, and told him to return the next day to try out as Kevin. The rest is history.
Michael would be delighted to celebrate his 90th birthday while still working, just as co-star William Roache – who plays Ken Barlow – did last month.
“You know what, it’s a nice thought,” Michael says laughing.
“As long as you can keep remembering your lines and remembering where you work and getting there every day...
“That’s the thing with our job. You don’t have to retire when you’re 65 because they still want older characters.
“You don’t retire from acting, acting retires you. If your face doesn’t fit any more, it doesn’t fit. It’s as simple as that.
“If my face still fits in 33 years’ time, I’ll be happy to be here still.”
Over the years, Kevin has been through scandal – he had affairs with Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch) and Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns) – and upheaval.
He has endured two divorces from his first wife Sally (played by Sally Dynevor).
He has also suffered the loss of newborn son Jake to an infection, which also led to the suicide of Kevin’s second wife Alison. While his son Jack had his lower leg amputated because of sepsis.
Now, in scenes being aired at the end of the month, Kevin helps his third wife Abi (Sally Carman) in her battle to keep hold of her baby son Alfie, the result of a one-night stand with Imran Habeeb.
Despite being devastated by the infidelity, Kevin decides to help Abi run away with the baby, even though he really wants her to stay.
Michael’s personal life has also been a rollercoaster. In 2013, the dad-of-two was suspended from the ITV soap amid claims of child sex offences.
After he was acquitted of all the charges he returned to the show, but later took time off to deal with cocaine and booze addictions.
Now viewers are hoping Kevin can help Abi keep her baby, but also that she and Kevin get back together.
Michael says: “He can see that no one’s perfect. And he loves her. And when you love someone, you see through their faults. That’s what a relationship should be and hopefully if Kevin ever falls on hard times Abi will be there for him.
“She’s exciting to him because he doesn’t know what he’s going to get from her one day to the next.
“I think that keeps him on his toes and stops him getting bored.”
Michael reckons his character is pretty good at forgiveness.
He says: “Kevin’s not been an angel himself. So I think he’s got to eat a bit of humble pie and just sort of say ‘mistakes do happen’.” He adds that Kevin’s son Jack also wants her back. Michael says: “I think Jack loves Abi like a step-mum.
“Jack sees that Abi is the one for Kevin.
“He wants his dad to be happy.”
Kevin sets about helping Abi to escape with the tot, knowing the loss of another child would destroy her.
On the show’s bosses putting him at the forefront of another massive plot – in which Imran and Abi are fighting tooth and nail over the baby – Michael adds: “It says that they think you’re doing a decent job. It gives you good worth in yourself as well, if you like.
“Doesn’t matter what scripts you get. I’m just proud to be part of the show. It’s a fantastic place to work – all I want to do is do my best.”
Michael, born in Newton Heath, Manchester, adds he still adores the job.
He says: “I love it. What’s not to like? You get different scripts every week and I’ve been blessed with the actors I’ve been put with, which made my job so much easier. It’s not like coming into work.”
He is thankful his character now gets on well with ex-wife Sally and her partner Tim (Joe Duttine).
Michael says: “I’m glad they introduced that. If Kevin and Tim didn’t get on, then it’d make it difficult for Kevin and Sally.
“For the sake of the kids we’ve had to make our relationship work. We understand each other now.”
There’s even a chance he could bring back Kevin’s moustache, which helped make him a gay icon for years. Michael said his bookings at gay clubs plummeted after he shaved it off. He says laughing: “I’m thinking of growing it back just to get a few quid.”
Michael’s favourite storylines include the loss of baby Jake in 2000.
He says: “I had that scene with Sally where he broke down.
“He had a line like, ‘What am I supposed to do with all that love now the baby’s been taken away?’. It was really emotional. I loved doing that.”
Another heart-rending favourite was when Kevin’s ex-wife revealed she was fighting for her life. “When Sally had to tell Kevin she’s got breast cancer. And that was one of those things, because [the actress] Sally was going through it herself.”
He also loved some upbeat storylines, like when he moved in with Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) in 1983. “We had a good laugh. She really hated Sally at the beginning.”
Other top moments were saving Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) from a fire in 1986, and the tram crash in 2010, marking Corrie’s 50th anniversary.
Michael now hopes that he too can keep racking up the anniversaries.
