It's nice being Mr Nasty
Aug 18 2006
By The Evening Chronicle
Coronation Street has had its fair share of nasty characters. But there's something about Charlie Stubbs, played by Geordie actor Bill Ward, that's particularly nasty. Handsome Bill, 39, announced he was leaving Corrie after three-and-a-half years earlier this year and is due to depart in an explosive storyline next January.
He says: "It was a difficult decision - I've had a fantastic time doing this show and there's some very good people here who I'll miss very much. I'm also voluntarily putting myself out of work, and that's a weird position to be in. But I just felt I'd done what I could with Charlie. I think every character has a natural lifespan, and for some that's 30 or 40 years, but for me, because he's a nasty piece of work, I couldn't quite see where he would go. So I thought it would be good to play him to the hilt, then get out before people get sick of him. You have to leave while the character still works, so that's what I'm trying to do."
So what will Bill do next?
"I just want to stay working. That's it," he says, matter-of-factly. "The trick with acting is to stay working, because 95% of actors at any one time are unemployed. I've got my head very much in the present at the moment and I try not to look too far into the future. We'll just see what happens. The idea is to stay as busy as possible. So if I can do that and make a career from this, then I'll be happy."
And so will we Bill, so will we.
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It's taken a while but I think his character's become a good part of the scenery now, so when he leaves I hope he's trained young Jason up to be a proper bastard too!
