Corrie star Julia Goulding on Shona’s mission to help son Clayton – and what it means for her and David…
There’s tragedy brewing for Shona next week in Coronation Street when her imprisoned son, Clayton, goes on the run.
As David threatens to kill Clayton – who murdered his wife, Kylie – Shona tries to reach out to the lad, only for it to backfire and him to take her hostage at knifepoint.
Here, Coronation Street star Julia Goulding, 33, who plays the troubled mum, reveals all about the drama to come…
Will we see Shona torn once again between Clayton and David next week?
Julia Goulding : “Yes, and we’ll also see that survival mode of Shona’s – the fact that she’s a fighter and makes decisions that might not be the right ones but seem, at the time, like they’re the only ones to make. They’re decisions made with her heart rather than her head.”
David threatens to kill Clayton when he escapes from his father Dane’s funeral. Does Shona believe he’s serious?
JG: “Oh, yes! If you cast your mind back, David was planning to kill himself and Clayton at Kylie’s murder trial, so she knows exactly what he’s capable of. They’re the two most important people in her life, but they’re also probably the two most dangerous people in her life.”
Clayton turns up on the cobbles and Shona ends up taking him to a warehouse. Does she think she can persuade her son to hand himself in?
JG: “Absolutely. When he was living with her, before Dane corrupted him, he was a beautiful young boy, and she can’t let go of that. She wants to be a positive light in his life, to give him hope for the future and to make him do the right thing. But things just go from bad to worse.”
Clayton holds Shona hostage when the police turn up. Can you talk us through what happens?
JG: “Even when he holds her at knifepoint, Shona’s still fairly confident that there is goodness underneath him. But there is a moment where that completely shifts. I can’t say too much, but he does something to prove that he has a very dark soul, and potentially there’s no coming back from it. That’s the time when the veil slips and she stops seeing him through rose-tinted glasses. The scales really do fall from her eyes.This week will change the nature of their relationship for ever."
Could Shona end up washing her hands of Clayton?
JG: “She could do… but we’ll have to wait and see! She’s always been tested by her maternal instincts, and this is the most tested that she has ever been.”
What was it like to film the hostage scenes?
JG: “It was cold and wet, but we all mucked in together, so those two weeks on location were hard, but also the best fun. Callum [Harrison, who plays Clayton] is a gorgeous human being. He works so hard and is so prepared, and that makes it incredibly easy.”
Did you have to take steps to make sure everyone was safe?
JG: “Yes, we rehearsed with a bendy plastic knife and then for the takes, we worked with a real knife, but it was blunt. We had a fight director to make sure everything was safe, and the police and paramedics weren’t actors – they were real. They knew what would happen in that situation, and could advise if anything wasn’t quite right.”
Do you think David and Shona’s love could be stronger from this, or will the fractures in their relationship get deeper?
JG: “I think each time Clayton rears his ugly head, eventually it makes them stronger. But we don’t know how long that can keep happening. It could be like when you bend a piece of wood till it snaps. Or it could be that every time Clayton comes in, the wood is waxed, so it’s more bendable and therefore won’t snap.”
You’re not a mum in real life – do you draw on anyone in particular to help you play Shona?
JG: “I think every Northern mum I’ve met helps me, and there are a few here at work. I’m quite maternal. When Callum had the knife, I was like, ‘Okay, hand it over now.’ “
David proposed to Shona last year, but she turned him down. Do you think she’d say yes if he asked her again?
JG: “It was a bit half-hearted, wasn’t it?! Maybe she would, if he put some thought into it. Shona Platt… It has a ring to it!”
Coronation Street continues on ITV.
