(This post was originally posted by LV on the Coronation Street Blog in November 2013.)I managed to grab ten minutes with Kevin Kennedy in-between shows at the Dominion Theatre where he is currently starring in Ben Elton’s "We Will Rock You".
I began by asking “our Curly” how long it took him to write his long awaited autobiography, “The Street To Recovery”.
The book I started two
years ago and it was going really well and it’s easy to write the very fun
stuff. But when it came to the stuff where you really had to, kind of, admit
what your life’s been like, that wasn’t so easy. I think if that had been
easier then the book would have been written a lot quicker, but once I’d
finished the fun stuff I then had to write the horrible stuff and that slowed the process down because I wasn’t very comfortable doing it.
I’m not surprised but it has got a cracking
prologue!
Well yeah, my idea was
to start it at the rock bottom I was at; not only as a creative device but to
bring in the reader as well so they’d want to find out what happened next.
And what did you discover about yourself?
I discovered that
although these things are supposed to be cathartic I didn’t find it cathartic
at all, I just got very angry with myself and kept getting cross because I
thought, why couldn’t I see it coming? Why was I being so ridiculous? But
then again that is the nature of addiction. I’m very tolerant of others but not
too tolerant of myself but I suppose that’s something I’ve just got to work on.
Did you use music as an aid to memory; to
transport you back to a particular time?
Yes I did actually; a
lot of country music to remember the stuff in Nashville – I started listening
to more Steve Earle; a bit more Lyle Lovett, which really got me going in the
first place; which really got me linked in to country music. Plus I did a lot
of talking to people that I knew from around that time – especially Stan [the Man! A singer and Kevin's yellow suit wearing companion in Nashville]. When I went through the stuff with Stan he was like, “I don’t remember half of
that!” but then it all started coming back to him so I knew I was being pretty
accurate.
How much input did Clare [Kennedy – his wife] have
into the book and the writing process?
None at all… I think
that when you’re writing your biography the only input has to come from you - and
somebody who doesn’t know you very well. I got a guy in called Humphrey who
read my stuff and then suggested ways of putting it all together and because
he didn’t know me very well he was looking at it totally cold which I think you
need when you’re writing something like this.
I think some people will be shocked at just how
ill you were; did you worry about laying yourself so bare in that way?
I think if you’re
going to do this sort of thing you might as well do it properly. The only thing
I was worried about was… well I decided I wasn’t going to drop anyone else in
it except me, so once I’d made that decision then it wasn’t difficult at all
because I knew I just had to tell the truth otherwise there wouldn’t be any
point in doing it.
What was it like to play a character so woven
into the fabric of the British consciousness - as Curly was?
When you play
something like that, to you, it’s just a job and you do the best you can and do the
job you’re paid for, and that’s what I was doing. And later on of course; when
you look back and people talk about what you’ve done very fondly then I’m
immensely proud and I’m immensely proud of all the stuff I did with Coronation
Street; I thought it was very funny; witty; hard-hitting; beautifully written
and a joy to do because it was so
beautifully written.
You got a lot of support from your parents; do
you think you’d supportive of your children if they wanted to become jobbing
actors?
Yeah, I will support
my children in whatever they decide to do and I’ve told them that their
experience of daddy working is, fortunately, at the top end of the
profession and if you are at the top, or near the top, of this profession then it
can be very glamorous but it’s all hard work. But I told them; if you’re not at
the top it can be very very
difficult.
So you just gave them a dose of realism about
it?
Yes,
absolutely.
Have you read Morrissey’s autobiography; I
noticed yours has mention of Johnny Marr and his, Coronation Street?
No I haven’t, I don’t
think Morrissey would’ve mentioned me in it (laughs). I’ve got it but I haven’t read it. I’ll save that for my holidays I think.
 |
| Any excuse for a picture of these two! |
I’ve got to ask about all the speculation; are
you returning?
At the moment, as far
as I know, there are no plans to bring Curly back to Coronation Street and
that’s as far as I know. It’s no secret that I’d like to do more and if that
happens I’ll be very pleased and if it doesn’t then that’s life and I’ll just
get on with what I’m doing.
Well you’re doing something that you love which
is music and theatre anyway.
Exactly.
Do you think the positive outcome from your story
will inspire other people in
recovery?
Well I hope so because
they wanted me to write this story straight away and for financial reasons that
would’ve been a very wise move but I didn’t have the first idea about this
disease, or the first idea about me, and I had to gain a knowledge of what was
affecting me and so it took fifteen years for me to really get a handle on what had happened to me.
Now you’ve got to know
that I wrote this book for two reasons: for my children to read it and to help
someone. This is the way it works with this disease, it’s all done by talking
about it and not keeping it to yourself. And if someone gains something from
this then I think that’s a bonus and I’d be very happy.
What is – or who are - “The Anonymous People”?
The Anonymous People
is coming from America. At the moment, in this country and in America, we seem
to be focussing on the problem rather than the solution – you look on the
television and there’s Drunken Brits Abroad or you look at the news and they’ve
got film crews out in the city centres on a Saturday at eleven o clock showing
the problem; Anonymous People is the solution because there are millions of
people who combat this disease on a daily basis and this is them; this is their
voice and they’re saying, “this is possible” and it’s a very positive look at
an antidote to what we’re seeing. Recovery is
possible, very possible, and millions of people have recovered from addictions
across the world.
And with that off he went off to prepare for
his second performance of We Will Rock You of the day.
Kevin Kennedy: actor; singer; writer; musician;
husband; father; director of Addiction Management UK Ltd and positive role
model for recovery.
The Street to Recovery is published in hardback by Paperbooks and is available online and in-stores.
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