All about Michael Le Vell's visit to Halifax

I'm on the organizing committee that hosts the Coronation Street events in Halifax and it's always a real buzz putting on the show for everyone. The guest arrives and we all hit the ground running and it's a pretty wild ride for a couple of days but all the time and organization we've put in makes it run quite smoothly. We always have an informal dinner the night before the show with our guest, too. This year, Michael only arrived on Monday rather than the usual Sunday due to flight schedules so he was a bit tired Monday night but was bang on time for our dinner (he's a stickler for being on time!). He was gracious, friendly and quite funny and chatted with us, posed for a few photos and signed autographs for us too. He had media interviews on Tuesday but did get a few hours to spend with his wife and kids who had come with him and I believe they walked around downtown Halifax and visited our Maritime Museum.

Local florist and celeb Neville MacKay was our Master of Ceremonies and he fielded questions for Michael that were submitted by the attendees. There wasn't time to get through all of the questions but we were very entertained by them both! Michael is really nice, he's got a great sense of humour and seems to love to joke around.

That's yours truly with Michael Le Vell! I've got a few more of us too! See a link at the end of the post for the photos.

Some interesting items that came up...

"Le Vell" is his mother's maiden name. His real name is Turner but there was already a Michael Turner in the Equity listings so he had to change it. He says he doesn't understand why the character of Sally gets so much stick (said with a wink!) and he had all good things to say about his long time costar, Sally Whittaker. They're good mates and he loves her to bits and thinks she's a superb actor. Even she hates having to act the scenes where Sally Webster is nasty! He also thinks a lot of the two young women playing his daughters and feels very lucky to have all three of them as his on screen family. He also said that the storyline where he and Alison lost baby Jake was hard to do but very rewarding.

Did he enjoy thumping John Stape? He laughed and said he did but he also said, you have to remember, Kevin hasn't lost a fight yet!!

He really liked Halifax and thought the people were fantastic and they made him feel welcome everywhere he went! He decided he'd like to come here after his good mate Steven Arnold gave the trip such a glowing review last year and persuaded him that he ought to go. It worked out and here he is!

Actors love to be the centre of attention and they love having big storylines which gives them lots to do. When they're told they have a big storyline coming up, even if it's going to be controversial, all the actors involved are pleased. They don't really even worry about if the viewers will like the storyline because it's all good work and it's all pretend anyway. They just get on with their jobs. "We just want to make entertainment" he says.

The grease and dirt on Kevin's and Ty's hands isn't real, it's black makeup mixed with hand lotion. He has discovered though, that real mechanics have to wear thin latex gloves now because of the carcinogens in the oil so we may see Kev and Ty wearing them soon. He said he and Alan Halsall have a lot of fun with the gloves and play on it a lot! In real life, he hasn't got a clue about cars!

Interestingly, he still sometimes suffers from stage fright where he'll blank on his lines or have to think about how to do something with certain timing or in a certain way like spearing a sausage with a fork and eating it rather than doing it naturally. He can then get so nervous that his hands will shake!

He's heard that Kevin and Molly will have an affair too. He didn't confirm it was true but he didn't confirm it wasn't. He did say that he hoped it didn't happen because he didn't think Kevin would do that to Tyrone but again, as I said earlier, if it happens, he probably won't really mind because it'll be a front burner storyline and actors like that! It seemed to me he really didn't know if it was a done deal and I wonder if that means he really doesn't know or he does know but is not allowed to say. I'm hoping if it's true, it's only partially true and that maybe Kevin will become attracted but doesn't go through with it. We can only wait and find out, I guess.

The other interesting thing he brought up was about iconic characters such as Hilda or Elsie Tanner or Vera Duckworth. People sometimes thing the show just wouldn't be the same and would suffer when one of these characters leaves the show because the actor wants to go or due to ill health. It's sad when one of them leaves but he says the show always goes on. New characters and storylines always come along and though you may miss that particular character, "There's never anything bigger than Coronation Street itself". I've heard that before, other actors always say the biggest star *is* the Street! He's been on the show going on 26 years. I think you could say he's one of the iconic characters now as well. I can't imagine Coronation Street without Kevin (and Sally!) but as he said, it *will* go on!

There's so much to tell about the two days, way more than I can fit here in one post and rather than bombard you with multiple missives, I've touched on the highlights. There are more details about my own experiences on my other blog (Monday and Tuesday) where you can peruse the details at your leisure. Of course I took photos, too (someone mentioned that taking photos is in my DNA!) and you can see them here (click "View Photos", no need to sign in)

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