Interview with Connor McIntyre: Phelan's dead bodies revealed

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2018, reposted to this blog with permission.)

How does Phelan feel about going back to the Mill?

Phelan is desperate now. He gets there knowing that he has to move really quick, he has to get this thing done. He is thinking he needs to get the bodies out of there and in to the concrete footings. But the Mill is very symbolic for him for a couple of reasons and this is his one chance to do away with any evidence that these murders link to him. It’s real desperate measures for him, it’s fire-fighting. It’s all starting to fold in.

You’ve said before that Phelan is a narcissist, is he panicked by this?

Phelan is panicked in the sense that he has to do it quickly, he is motivated. If they find those two bodies and identify them then everything is going to start coming back to him. So, panicked? Certainly but again, he thinks eventually everything will work for him. He thinks he has a perfect plan; get them out of the water and get them in to the concrete. No one is going to find them in there, right?

What is his reaction when he sees one of the bodies emerging from the water?

Phelan sees the top of something in the water and, to anybody else that could just be a bit of debris but to him, he knows what it is and he knows he has got to move quick. He has got away from Eileen and thinks he can get this job done and be back in time for the party - he has got a timetable of everything.

Tell us what happens when he tries to get the bodies out of the water.

Phelan gets the bodies out of the water, drags them across planks and across staging to get them in to this footings so it’s a proper night’s work. It’s a real job to get it done but at that point he thinks that the job is done.

How is this Phelan such a jump from the one who kept Andy in the cellar because he couldn’t face to kill him?

We have crossed the rubicon. He thinks that this is a really clear way to sort this. I heard a description of Donald Trump, one of his ex aides said, ‘Donald is the guy who doesn’t care if it is raining outside because he is inside.’ And that’s a pretty good description of our Pat, isn’t it?

What happens when Eileen starts to call Phelan?

Can you believe it?! He has just text her to say he is on his way then puts his phone down for a second but then she phones at that moment and it starts vibrating on the plank. Just as he gets there to it, it drops in. He climbs in because it is not that full by then, not realising that once he is in he actually can’t get out.

Does Phelan believe this is the end?

Yes. To see him in that moment he thinks, wow this could be it. He is incredulous. In the same poetic ways that the bodies are going, he is going to be entombed in the concrete as well?

What were those scenes like to film?

Fantastic. We had absolutely the worst weather, only this time we had rain machines as well as the cold and we even had lightening! So to say it is Shakespearean is not an exaggeration, this is real jeopardy for him.

How was the atmosphere this time in comparison to when you filmed at the Mill last time?

It was remarkably different. It was colder and I don’t just mean that that affects us, the tone out there is colder because Phelan is very clear what he has to do. When he was at the Mill previously, it was a chain of events leading to a double murder. This time this is an actual plan to get to this point. A lot more chilling - literally.

What is the reaction you get from viewers and what do you hope the reaction will be to this storyline this week?

It’s very interesting because I get a lot of positives. On the contrary, they say they hate Phelan but they just don’t want him to go yet. They are really enjoying it and that is a credit to the writers, the storyliners and everybody else.

What makes Phelan such a good baddie?

The writers and the storyliners have done such a great job of walking this very fine line, he’s a dangerous narcissist and psychopath. If you can make a character like that and still have sympathy from large proportions of the viewing public who believe that inside there there is a good man fighting to get out because there are moments of real decency. He’s got a moral compass at some points and his love for Eileen is true but that only exists in it’s own special place because we can see what he is when somebody gets in his way or when he perceives somebody trying to derail his plans.

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