Coronation Street star James Cartwright has confirmed “shocking and terrifying” Theo scenes to come on the soap. The soap is currently exploring a domestic abuse storyline with Theo and Todd Grimshaw amid the former’s violent and controlling behaviour towards his partner.
Scenes next week will see things escalate as Theo forces Todd to train for a half-marathon, while James Bailey’s presence and flirtations towards his partner later leads Theo to violently assault Todd.
However, Sarah Barlow is starting to cotton on to Theo’s behaviour as she catches Theo getting into a van with Pete, whom he cheated on Todd with, and she confronts them.
Next week will see Theo try to drive a wedge between Todd and Sarah, which actor James Cartwright said isn’t “premeditated” by his character but more “a plan to isolate Todd”.
Speaking about Theo’s violent incident towards Todd after the latter spends time with James Bailey, the star explained that it is “another escalation” that’s “both shocking and terrifying for Todd”.
“Theo just blows up when he doesn’t seem to be able to talk about his feelings,” he said. “He can’t express himself so he loses his temper, and he becomes very volatile to be around.”
Cartwright shared that it is “never easy” filming such scenes, noting: “Domestic violence is real for a lot of people, it often escalates around Christmas, so there’s a real level of respect on the set.”
“You’ve got to tread that line between drama, storytelling and authenticity,” he added. “It will be very challenging to watch for anybody who’s been through it, or is going through something similar, but we also have to be careful not to rush it or you run the risk of doing a disservice to people who’ve been through it.
“Domestic violence can be particularly tricky to tackle because very often, the victims don’t know that’s what it is or they excuse certain behaviours.”
