Beth lands role as Coronation Street villain after being cast as 'baddies' in York College plays

The York-born, 25-year-old has landed her first-ever TV role as Megan Walsh in the iconic soap opera and been handed a controversial storyline, as a sports coach/teacher who is having a relationship with a schoolboy.

Beth, who studied a Level 3 course in Performing & Production Arts at College from 2016 to 2018, is no stranger, though, to playing evil characters – even being cast as the “ultimate baddie” during one production in our Alan Ayckbourn Theatre.

“We did A Vampire Story at College by Moira Buffini and I had the best time doing that,” Beth recalled. “I was a baddie – obviously - with a Cockney accent.

“Then, the second year show we did was Everyman and I played the Devil – the ultimate baddie!”

Beth, who also credits College with helping conquer her performance shyness at the age of 16 as well as offering invaluable advice on her next steps in education, has admitted that “she screamed her head off and then cried” when she was told her audition for the part of Megan had been successful.

She was working in her job as a skin clinic manager when she received the phone call from her agent.

It was a conversation that ended four years waiting for her big break – a struggle that had pushed Beth to the verge of turning her back on her dream career.

Instead, she is now looking forward to featuring in Corrie’s Christmas Day episode, which will be watched by millions of families up and down the country as an annual festive tradition.

Recalling the thrill of securing a role in the world’s longest-running soap series, with the first episode having aired 65 years ago, Beth said: “Gennie Radcliffe and Joanne Moss, from the casting team, had been to see me in quite a few shows that I did at my Drama School – the Arden School of Theatre - in Manchester, so I was kind of on their radar. But I’d auditioned for Corrie twice before – as a baddie both times of course – including for the role of Lauren.

“Then, earlier this year, my agent sent me a casting brief and explained it was for a paedophile, which is a bit crazy to play because they’re obviously not a redeemable character, so they can push it pretty far. I sent a self-tape and was then invited to a chemistry test with a few other actors who were being considered for the role of Will (the schoolboy victim).

“Next, I did a scene on the set in The Bistro with a full camera crew and, after that, I was at work when my agent called me. I was upstairs as my colleague watched the desk and, when he told me I’d got it, everybody in the clinic could hear me screaming my head off and then I cried, because it’s been four years since I graduated and this is my first TV role. 

“It’s been a hard time and I was really close to quitting, having a normal job and pursuing a different career, so this just came at exactly the right time and when I needed it.”

Beth, who also worked as a waitress “for years”, has now been told her initial six-month contract on "The Cobbles" has been renewed.

For her mum – a Corrie superfan - it was a real challenge not to scream her daughter’s big news from the rooftops, as per the wishes of the show’s producers. 

“It had to be a major secret for ages,” Beth revealed. “I was told that I couldn’t tell anybody, other than close friends and family, but to also make sure that they didn’t tell anybody else.

“I got the job in July, started shooting in August and it only aired in November, so it felt like a huge chunk of time not being able to tell people that you’re filming Coronation Street. Me and my Mum watched Corrie and all the soaps together when I was growing up so, for her, keeping it a secret that I was going to be in the show that we loved watching so much was eating her alive!”

Beth watched her first episode on the show alone in her Salford flat, as she had only just finished shooting that day, but her family and loved ones were toasting her life-changing moment back in Yorkshire.

“My dad lives in Aberford and watched it in the local village pub and my boyfriend’s parents run a pub on Goodramgate, so they had it on their tiny telly in the corner and they were all watching it,” Beth said.

“It felt a bit weird, seeing myself on TV for the first time. It’s like it’s not you, because they’re not your clothes.

“Everything is picked out for you and your hair and make-up is done for you as well, so it’s a bit of an out-of-body experience and I hate watching myself. But, for me, I have to, because I hadn’t acted for two years and I was scared I’d forgotten everything that I’d ever learned. I even got my old College text books out again!”

Beth is looking forward to tuning in on December 25, though, along with millions of others.

“It will be exciting to watch that episode as an audience member, rather than a cast member,” she declared. “It was a pinch-me, crazy moment of thinking, ‘What am I doing here sat celebrating Christmas with all these Coronation Street characters in the Rovers (Return pub)?’”

She has also conquered the early nerves that, quite understandably, consumed her as she filmed her first scene.

“I knew my lines and had been practicing them for a month but, as soon as they said, ‘Action’, I couldn’t remember them,” she confessed. “That had never happened before, but I was obviously just nervous and it was fine in the end.”

In terms of workload, Beth explains that, at the peak of a major storyline your character is involved in, you can be at the show’s Granada Studios from 7am to 7pm, five days a week, but she’s quick to point out: “They’re very good and look after you. 

“You always get your lunch and tea breaks. You don’t feel overworked and they make sure you get your rest. There are no 18-hour days.”

She is also pleased to be helping raise awareness of a crime that is sometimes trivialised and even glamourised in society. 

“It creates a lot of debate, because a lot of people say, ‘It’s a 15-year-old boy’s dream’ but, if you flip it the other way round, it’s always seen as disgusting,” she reasoned. “If it’s a storyline that makes one person recognise that this is happening to them and it’s wrong, then it has done its job.”

With actors who play Corrie villains regularly shouted at in streets as devoted viewers blur the line between fiction and reality, Beth has been told that she won’t be able to go out in public unnoticed for much longer.

“I haven’t been recognised yet but Rob Mallard, who plays Daniel, has told me it takes about six weeks of being on the show and then it goes a bit crazy,” she added.

That level of fame would have, no doubt, felt daunting for school leaver Beth when her shyness almost saw her enrol on another course, before the intervention of a tutor. 

“I came to College and did an audition, but I then decided I was going to do Media,” she explained. “But the tutor doing the interview for the Media course told me I should do Acting instead because all I spoke about in the interview was how I wanted to become an actor!

“The only thing that was putting me off was that I was a bit shy and self-conscious at 16, but I got over that in about a week and loved it! It was great how the course was structured.

“I was so glad that I chose it because you were assessed on performance more than your coursework and you can’t learn to act from a piece of paper!”

She met two of her closest friends at College – one who is now working as an actor in London and another who made the “wonderful” decision to become a midwife instead.

Beth went on to stress how she received such invaluable advice at College regarding her best route into the acting profession.

“At College, I didn’t really know what Drama School was, but my tutor Dave Moore was advising me to go there,” she said. “I’d probably have never known what the Arden was if it wasn’t for Dave, but I auditioned and fell in love with it. 

“He was very knowledgeable about how to navigate yourself in the industry after leaving College. So many people finish these courses and, when they leave, they’re left to their own devices and don’t have a clue what they’re doing but York College was very good at advising you what you needed to do next.” 

During her third year at Arden, Beth’s talent was spotted by her current agency Cieka Bailey, leading to work with one of the world’s most famous brands, but she has had to remain resilient and patient when other auditions proved fruitless. 

“Four months after leaving Arden, I got a McDonald’s advert in Switzerland,” she explained. “I was flown out there for four days, shot the advert and thought it was just the coolest thing in the world – getting paid to eat McDonald’s all day in Switzerland!

“The job was with my ex-boyfriend and we were sat in a car park and the advert was about me finding those few chips that you always get left in the bottom of the bag. I’ve also done a few plays and radio voiceovers, but nothing major really until this.”

Despite the extension of her contract, Beth also understands that there will need to be repercussions for Megan, meaning she is likely to have a shelf life as a character. 

But she appreciates, too, that the show is providing an incredible platform to showcase her talent and offering her an excellent education. 

“Because of what the character is doing, she probably won’t be in it forever, which is a shame for me,” Beth confessed. “I’d love to work in Corrie every day because it’s security and you’re getting up every morning to do something you love.

“It’s also such an institution, where everybody is so friendly, but I’m learning so much about how everything works and, if I go on to do other things and other dramas, I’ll know exactly what I’m doing.”

Beth is working closely with Rob Mallard due to Megan also getting embroiled in a relationship with his character – school-teacher Daniel.

That, in turn, has led to her filming scenes with legendary 93-year-old Bill Roache, who has played Daniel’s father Ken Barlow since the very first episode in 1960.   

On the support she has received on set, Beth said: “They’re all really lovely normal people who have made me feel so welcomed and at ease. Me and Rob have such a laugh on set together.

“He’ll always sit with me at lunch or pull up a chair and sit with me in the Green Room. He’s one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met and I feel like I’ve found a friend for life.

“He really helps me out, even if it’s just advice like putting my weight on my left foot in a certain situation. I’ve also done scenes with Bill. 

“He’s so lovely and the nicest man ever. Every time I see him, he gives me a kiss on the cheek and stops to have a chat, which just makes me feel really privileged.” 

Beth added that she is inspired by many of the actresses who she first watched play strong female characters on her mum’s sofa – some who are now colleagues and others who have used the programme as a springboard for excellent careers in the industry. 

“I loved Becky McDonald,” she enthused. “Her character was brilliantly played by Katherine Kelly, because she was such a ladette, but gorgeously beautiful as well and she’s gone on to have an amazing career. 

“She’s definitely somebody I look up to. Michelle Keegan was great too and Carla’s an icon as well.

“I always wanted to be her and Alison (King) is such a good actress, as is Vicky Myers, who plays her partner. Watching them two do scenes together is magical.” 

On her own ambitions following her breakthrough role, Beth said: “The dream would be to do film, but I just want to work. I also really love theatre and being a working actor is all I’ve ever wanted, so I’d be really grateful for anything that means I am paid for doing acting as my job.”

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