TV star admits he felt “tied down” by his role in Coronation Street | Soaps

Maximus Evans is best known for his portrayal of Corey Brent in “Coronation Street”.

In 2019, the young character took on the lead role in a devastating and horrific storyline in which Corey and his gang attacked Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) and Nina (Mollie Gallagher) just because of their looks.

According to the plot, Seb died from his injuries. In the devastating aftermath, Nina suffered memory loss as a result of the trauma. When she finally remembered the walk she had taken with Seb before the attack, she was able to remember what had happened and who was involved.

Corey’s involvement in the attack was only discovered by Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows), who was homeless at the time. He had found the bag containing Corey’s clothes from the night of the attack and when it was turned over to the police, they were able to arrest and charge him.

The ITV soap worked closely with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation on this storyline. Sophie and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were attacked in a park in 2007 because of their appearance.

As a result of the attack, Sophie succumbed to her injuries and her mother Sylvia decided to establish the foundation in memory of her daughter.

After leaving in 2021, Maximus Evans decided to resume his education and attend drama school. Three years after developing his craft, he is now rehearsing for a theatre production of the novel All We Had to Give.

As Maximus prepares for his debut, he found time to sit down with me and reflect on his new role and why he decided to take a new career path and go to drama school after Corrie.

“The truth is, I didn’t want to commit myself. Not just to the role, but to a form of acting. I loved my time on Corrie, but I knew it was limited. Acting has been my passion since I was a kid. I wasn’t very academic, so acting and the drama department in high school were a place where I could really be myself.

“I decided very early in my life that this was it. When I left Corrie at the age of 21, I needed to change things – theatre allows you to do that. I didn’t want to just be known as the guy from Corrie – I wanted to explore different characters and that’s what I get from this show.”

“My time on Corrie was very intense – both in terms of the role and the public perception,” he said, explaining how he felt after leaving the ITV soap.

“For me, drama school was an opportunity to find my feet and really hone my craft and it did that. I met some fantastic people and my passion has always been theatre and I think that’s the case for a lot of actors. It’s important to me not to be tied down to one style and to be really open to changing and trying different styles.

“That’s what drama school did for me. When the opportunity came up to go, I jumped at the chance because I ended up working with a woman called Patty Rosenberg – she’s this amazing singing teacher and she helped me find my singing in a way that surprised me.

“It was also a real challenge in terms of the material we used. Now it’s so nice to go ahead and play this piece where I can bring all that work to fruition.”

“All We Had to Give” is a book by Kazuo Ishiguro. The theater production, which begins on September 20, is written by Suzanne Heathcote and directed by Christopher Haydon.

Maximus discussed Kazuo’s novel and his work as a writer, and also revealed more about his role in the play: “He is an absolute legend of literature, listed in the top 100 best English language novels since 1923, he was involved in the best novel of the year, he is a real legend. The production starts on September 20th and runs until October 12th, after which we go on tour. We go to the Royal Derngate in Northampton, to Worcester, to the Bristol Old Vic, which is a legendary stage, and then we finish the show in Chichester.

“The play is a dystopian story about three friends growing up in a closed environment. Ultimately it’s about their growth in a world where their only purpose is to donate their organs, which is obviously very intense, but strangely my character Philip doesn’t appear in the book at all. In the adaptation, a character called Cathy is flipped and she speaks to Philip, a fellow donor, rather than the audience.

“It’s a real tragedy. It’s a love story, it’s funny, but you can’t deny that there’s a real tragedy underneath that resonates without it being too obvious. The opportunity came along and I think I would have been stupid not to take it! I think it’s a really important story and it’s the first time it’s been adapted on stage in England – that’s really great.”

Maximus went on to explain to me that he felt quite “tense” when he arrived at drama school. After playing “such a tough, violent, mentally unfit character” in Coronation Street, it took him a while to get used to this life-changing role.

“It took me a while to loosen up because on the one hand you have to be prepared to be on call, but on the other hand you also have to be relaxed and flexible when switching from one role to the next.

“It took me a while to settle in, which I think is normal, but with the help of my colleagues and the great staff, they just see me as an actor who has worked before,” he added, talking about what it was like settling into the theater cast.

“I was able to be myself and I think that was very important. I didn’t want my time with Corrie to affect my training.”

Since his character Corey was not killed, Maximus has the chance to reprise the role in the future.

When asked if he would like to return, the young star explained that he is currently more tempted to explore other avenues in the industry.

“That’s not the priority at the moment. The possibility of a possible return hasn’t come up yet. At the moment I want to explore other avenues. As much as I love everyone at Corrie, it was so valuable to me as a young actor too, but at the moment it’s not where I want to be.

“I’d like to tick off a few other points, but you never know! Maybe he’ll be released early, we’ll see!”

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