Mikey North "couldn’t stop crying" after filming his ‘Coronation Street’ character Gary Windass getting violent with Sarah Platt.
The 32-year-old star admits it took him "a while" to get his head around the hard-hitting scenes when Gary pinned Sarah – played by Tina O’Brien – against a wall after she broke up with him, and admits it was "particularly bad" for his own emotions.
He said: "Those scenes when I had to throw her around, they weren’t easy. It took me a while to get my head around it and I was in tears.
"I couldn’t stop crying for a while after that. I never cry. I couldn’t tell you the last time I cried. That was particularly bad. It turned out to be more than we both expected because of the emotion of it all."
Gary has recently shown his nasty side when viewers discovered he was the reason behind the factory roof collapse, which left Rana Habeeb (Bhavna Limbachia) dead, and Mikey is aware his time on the soap will be coming to an end at some point.
He added to the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: "I’d stay here forever if that was an option. However, I am aware that with this type of storyline, whether it be two or three years, it will come to an end.
"I will be devastated when it happens, but I would rather it be this way with some great storylines."
Gary has also gone up against villain Rick Neelan (Greg Wood) recently, resulting in more hard-hitting scenes, and Mikey feels "blessed" working with such stars as Greg and Connor McIntyre, who played cobbles serial killer Pat Phelan.
He said: "It’s a challenge but it’s been great. I’ve been blessed in working with two great villains, Phelan and now Rick which has been really enjoyable.
"Gary has often tried to bully people, like Seb down the years, but when he comes up against people like Rick, he realises he’s not so good at it after all."
Mikey North ‘couldn’t stop crying’ after filming violent Coronation Street scenes
