The Street
Will Mellor plays Tom
Will Mellor was delighted to be offered the chance to show a new side to himself in The Street. In the process, he was able to demonstrate the breadth of his acting ability. He portrays the character of Tom, a laddish builder who happens to be gay.
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He falls for a married work mate, Charlie (Vincent Regan), and they have a short, yet passionate fling. Tom has to cope with the aftermath as Charlie struggles to come to terms with what's happening to him.
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Will, 31, feels that he was able to add another string to his bow with this role: "This part has been a great challenge for me," enthuses the perennially popular actor, who has top-lined in shows such as Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps, Sorted, and Casualty.
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"It's fantastic to get an opportunity to do something like this and really get my teeth into it. For me, it was a completely new area. I loved getting my hands dirty with such a substantial dramatic role."
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The actor, who comes from Stockport, goes on to pick out the salient qualities in his character. "Tom has to be very sensitive. He's preying on Charlie, a guy who's married, so he has to be very careful about how he handles him.
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"He's very comfortable about being gay, while Charlie is really insecure about it. Tom is aware that as he approaches Charlie, he could get punched in the mouth or they could go for it!"
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Will explains more about what makes Tom tick: "He's not at all camp. He's a blokey bloke, a builder who works hard and enjoys manly things. At night, he goes to gay clubs, but at work he doesn't let anyone know about it because he knows he'd be the butt of all the jokes and innuendoes.
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"It's very difficult for him because when the guys at work make anti-gay jokes, he has to join in and laugh. He has to put on a front. If he took a stand against them, he'd be opening a whole new can of worms for himself. He just wants to get through the day and needs to work. He wouldn't be able to if he came out to his colleagues."
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Will acknowledges that the love scenes with Vincent Regan "were hard. It was the first time I'd done gay scenes it was like stepping into deep water for me. We did the big kiss at the end of the day, and we kept saying to each other, 'after lunch, we've got to snog!' But in the event, it was absolutely fine. Vincent and I really hit it off, and there was a very relaxed atmosphere on set."
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The actor asserts that Jimmy McGovern's drama "is really credible. Some people imagine that all gay men walk around with a feather boa and a high squeaky voice. But it's often not that overt. That's what's great about this drama and why I was glad they cast me. I'm not obvious casting for this part."
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Will closes by paying tribute to the sensitivity of the writing: "Jimmy's words just fly off the page. With some scripts, you struggle to put the lines into words; but Jimmy's scripts are absolute page-turners.
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"He also writes real characters. In the read-through, you couldn't help but perform because the characters just came to life in front of you. That's how you tell a great screenplay. It's just a joy to work with writing like that."
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