Coronation Street star Maximus Evans, who plays Corey Brent, has filmed his final scenes on the soap, and has swapped Weatherfield for a top London Drama School.
The 20-year-old has enrolled at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, whose former students include Ewan McGregor, Orlando Bloom and 007 himself, Daniel Craig.
Speaking exclusively to TV Times magazine, Maximus says, “It’s a three-year course, and they’ve been great with allowing me to work.
“Working with Corrie has been a kick start and a great bit of training before I even came, so it’s all worked out quite well.”
Asked why he has taken the decision to go to drama school, rather than audition for further TV roles, Maximus explains, “To further train myself. Acting is a muscle, and I wanted to keep it as active as I could.
“Also, TV isn’t the only medium I want to work in. I’ve got a passion for theatre, and it gives me an opportunity to hopefully float from one to the other.
“I love acting; it’s my passion, and I want to take it as far as I can and see what I can discover. At the minute, I’m on this big journey of self-discovery.”
Maximus joined Coronation Street in May 2019, and his character, Corey, became the soap’s latest villain in the Spring of this year when he brutally murdered Seb Franklin.
Up and coming footballer Corey went on to be wrongly acquitted of the crime in court, and innocent Kelly Neelan was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
But in upcoming scenes, the net will close in on the killer teen as clothes that he wore on the night of the attack - which he disposed of due to them being soiled with Seb’s blood - are found by Asha and Nina and handed in to Weatherfield police.
With the cops intending to re-arrest Corey, next week’s episodes will see the lad’s father, Stefan (Paul Opacic) hatch a plan for them to flee the country, with the help of Eli’s father, Christian (Ronan Holdsworth), whom he previously bribed during the trial.
Coronation Street bosses have confirmed that Corey will then exit Weatherfield, but haven’t revealed whether he is captured and sent to prison or manages to evade punishment once again.
Discussing the possibility that Corey could finally get his comeuppance, Maximus says that his character “100% needs to go down” and, if this is the case, he will struggle to handle himself on the inside.
“He’d be holding someone’s pocket within the first day!” he laughs. “He’ll be dominated by the other inmates who are actual criminals - Corey is a criminal, but I’ve always said he’s a bit of an accidental killer who allowed emotion to take over in that split second.
“I don’t think he’d last a minute, and he’d have to tip a couple of people off on the inside to get protection.”
But the actor adds that if justice isn’t served, this could lead to an interesting story further down the line.
“Corey’s plan is to play football in the big leagues, but he’ll always be looking over his shoulder, and his past will probably come and bite him when he least expects it.
“For the sake of justice, he needs to get sent down, but if he doesn’t, it’s leaving a door open to another story in the future.
“I’d love to see people’s faces on the street if Corey returned from abroad in years to come.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays and Wednesdays 7.30pm and 8.30pm with a hour-long episode at 7.30 on Fridays on ITV - see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on ITV Hub now.
