Lorna Laidlaw admits it was "really difficult" filming James Bailey’s coming out scenes on ‘Coronation Street’.
The 57-year-old actress – who plays Aggie Bailey on the cobbles – has opened up on the moment her on-screen family argued over whether James, played by Nathan Graham, should be open about his sexuality.
She told Digital Spy: "It was awful! Really difficult. I’m quite an emotional person.
"If you feel it and you’re in that moment, hell or high water, no matter how many times you filmed it, you feel it because you’re absolutely in that moment.
"You feel the agony of what this lad is going through. It’s a really emotional thing anyway so it was easy."
Michael’s father Edison (Trevor Michael Georges) wants his son to keep it under wraps – and doesn’t approve of his relationship with Danny Tomlinson (Dylan Brady) – while Aggie and her other son Michael (Ryan Russell) both want him to be true to himself.
Reflecting on where the storyline will go from here, Lorna added: "These episodes were just the tip of the iceberg and it’s a journey.
"All of us have to go along with this journey and it will get darker for this child.
"To think how happy and lovely he was at the beginning of this and we’ll be exploring how him saying ‘I am gay’ can change some people’s perceptions of him. We go on that journey with him."
And she explained her ‘Corrie’ alter ego wants to stand by her son.
She said: "Her alliance absolutely lies with her son because she thinks there is nothing wrong with being gay. She thinks he should absolutely tell everybody, because if he’s got control over it, that would be better than it leaking and everybody speculating."
Coronation Street’s Lorna Laidlaw admits James Bailey coming out scenes were tough
