ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - Coronation St. discussion

How does it feel to be back at Corrie?
"It really is the strangest thing - you just walk in and it was nice saying hello to everybody in the green room and stuff but all of a sudden you're on set. It was just me mainly at the start, so apart from one scene with Rob [Beck] - who plays Jimmy - it was just me and the crew in my flat, so it was brilliant - and really, really funny. Banter as usual and you're like, 'But that is my first day, is nobody going to make a fuss?' and of course nobody does because they're all onto the next scene."

You're back for a short period then you're going off again – how do all the dates work out? When will we see you?
"I'm back on screen for two weeks and a lot happens. Then I'm off screen for about three weeks and then full steam ahead. I'm back filming full-time now, though."

Your return's quite a seminal point in the storyline, too…
"It sparks the beginning of the end for Tony and where I stand with it all. It's all about whether I tell anyone about Tony killing Liam. It's big stuff. If everybody does find out - which I'm sure they will - my name will be muck and I'm going to be on my own again. I don't know who they're going to get for me to play with because unless my brother gets out of prison I'm going to be hated by everyone again!"

Where's Carla been?
"She's been to LA - and there have been about six million references to LA in case you'd forgotten where Carla was! I think she's been with an old school friend. So the one person she's kept in touch with apart from the Connors has a place in LA, so she runs off to visit her any time she's got a problem, which is nice."

What's her motive for returning?
"I think it's just Carla saying, 'I miss the urban grime, I'm sick of wall to wall sunshine'. No, in all seriousness, I think she's probably sick of hiding. You know how it's great to go on holiday but she's made a few roots in Weatherfield and she doesn't have many, so I presume that she does miss the urban life. It's everything she's built up. That's her only empire and she was quite good at it so she can't believe that Tony's holding off contacting her. She's had a bit of time to get some balls back, too."

She returns for baby Liam's christening…"I think Leanne told her about Maria, so that's probably one of the factors for why she's back. I don't know whether she's heard about the christening or not but she's probably thought, 'I can't let this go on'. But at the same time, she's thought of a beneficial way it might suit her to get the factory back."

Where do we first see her?
"We see her at the graveside in hooded Scottish widow-type fashion! I think it reads like she's arranged to meet him there, which is all quite gruesome, but quite poignant I suppose. I guess in storyline terms, we're near Liam's death so it would be nice if it were all dark and mysterious. I think it's just a reference to his death and that's the place to make him feel under most pressure I guess. My first words when I see him are, 'You're late'. It just goes to show that Carla's completely in control when she comes back - the ball's in her court."

How does Tony react?
"Carla tells him, 'Stop doing what you're doing with Maria or I'll tell her, everybody else and the police that you killed Liam'. She's not going to make it easy for him but he's pretty manipulative himself and whether it's going to be the easy or the hard way you'll have to wait and find out…"

What do you make of Tony and Maria?
"With Maria, Tony has what he's always wanted with Carla. Tony and Maria are the leftovers - they're what Carla and Liam didn't really want. Tony'll be damned if he's going to let Carla screw it up now he's worked so hard to get where he wants. But it's sick - he can't carry on that way forever, not in Coronation Street."

Then there's a shock turn of events involving Jimmy…"Yeah, the fight… I think Tony says something like, 'I want her dead'. Tony wants Carla out of the way and Carla wants him out of the way, so I keep arranging to meet him but he doesn't show up and I'm left with this skulky figure of Jimmy standing in front of me. Carla ends up fighting for her life and there's an amazing twist, too. It just shifts the control again. The ball's in Tony's court… Tony's so controlling of Carla and in her panic, she has to flee again."

What's it feel like to be a new mum?
"Daisy's just here sitting on my knee - she loves the phone, she'll probably try to eat it in a moment! I blew dry her hair last night and she loves that, too. She comes out of the bath and it's all wet - she's not got much at the minute. She loves it when I blow dry my hair, so I put it on this low heat and blew dry her hair into this spiky quiff, it's hilarious and it's kept for today! She looks brilliant.

"Being a new mum runs over you like a steamroller at first. I was working quite hard up until the birth and then the birth resulted in an operation - I had to have an emergency C-section. Then it's just pure hard work and I never realised it would be this hard! The sleep deprivation is just exhausting but she's excellent and so funny now. She's worth everything."

Was it hard to leave her at home and return to work?
"Oh yeah. When I went back to film Carla's return, it was the first time I'd been away all day from her, but it makes it doubly nice when you do come home. I was racing to get home before she went to bed and when I got in, she was upstairs having her nappy changed. She's got really good hearing. When I came in she had this massive attack of excitement that normally only happens when daddy walks in the room, so I was really pleased!"

Have you taken Daisy into the studios yet?
"I took her in a few months ago but she's entered a new phase of life where she's so alert and the different things that have been dangling in front of her for the whole five or six months have now just taken on a whole new world. She's excited by everything. I'm going to take her onto the Street again, and even though she won't understand it, she'll get a whole lot of attention."

Does Carla still have any feelings for Tony?
"No. I think it's complete disdain and he's a piece of poo on her shoe now. She's really got it in for him and what's even more sick and twisted is the fact he's with Maria. It just makes Carla feel a little bit sick. I suppose she's a little bit jealous because Carla wouldn't be Carla unless she had all the attention, would she? It just doesn't make any sense to Carla and she's had all this time to think… She's probably got a boyfriend in LA, actually - they could bring him over! He could be called Frank the Yank!"

Who else on the Street do you think Carla would set her sights on?
"It can't be Steve McDonald and it can't be... There's actually nobody for her! I always thought - and it made me giggle - that her and Dev could make a ridiculous couple. But actually, I think she's just got to have a bit of fun next time - that could be the way forward. I know she likes being looked after but she's done that twice now and it's gone horribly wrong, both with Paul and Tony. Her true love was Liam and he wasn't 'all that', was he? He didn't have cash to flash around."

Do you think Carla Gordon's the new Elsie Tanner?
"[Laughs] Full steam ahead! I just wish I had some of those blouses and her pointy boobs - they were brilliant!"

Why do you think fans love Carla so much?
"I don't know… I think a lot of women like her ego and she's quite real. She's quite gobby but also quite driven. Everyone would like to be a bit like that - to be able to say exactly what they want, when they want and walk with their heads held high and their high heels on down the street jangling their keys and going, 'Oh, get lost - I don't care what you think!' I had a woman come up to me once who said, 'I like Carla, she keeps it real!'"

Kim Crowther promised that Carla will come into her own in the new year…"I've no idea what's happening! Carla's got nowhere to hide now and I think she'll do things to save herself at first, which will make everybody hate her. So with that and how damaged she already is, you're going to see more of a bitch than we have done - and I think that's probably what they all need in the factory."
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