Coronation Street insider secrets have revealed how Sue Devaney’s heart-breaking monologue was filmed, as her character Debbie Webster came to terms with the news that she may be showing symptoms of dementia.
The iconic ITV soap character is set to leave the cobbles as part of the storyline which sees Corrie work with Dementia UK.
Wednesday night’s episode saw Debbie finally visit a doctor about her “brain fog” with flashback clips detailing her symptoms.
The first segment of the episode was shot almost entirely from the doctor’s point of view, focusing audiences on Sue’s phenomenal performance as Debbie with a devastating monologue from the character that began the installment.
In the latest episode of ITV’s Off Script podcast, set to be released tomorrow, hosts Kelvin Fletcher, Liz Fletcher, and guest Channique Sterling-Brown shared how the special opening had been filmed, heaping praise on its star.
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Emmerdale star Kelvin described this week’s Corrie as “traumatic” before the hosts delved into how Debbie’s emotional monologue was filmed for the ITV soap.
“It was the entirety of part one,” he pointed out. “They broke, as they say in the industry, the fourth wall as she looked straight down the camera and it was just the most incredible scene.”
The actor, who played Andy Sugden in Emmerdale, continued: “We were actually speaking to the director, David Beauchamp, and he told us that it was a four-hour rehearsal with Sue Devaney, so that’s a lot of commitment from the show to allow her to feel comfortable to give us that performance.”
Channique added that Sue is “incredible”, revealing all of the cast and crew were talking about her performance.
“We obviously had some scenes that week as well and I can’t think of a more perfect person who would pour their all into this,” the Dee-Dee Bailey actor continued.
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“She’s just an actress who really cares about her craft and really cares about the storytelling.”
Channique said they had “two full days” and “15 scenes” to shoot, while Kelvin said they “did it all in one take”.
“The director was happy, and Sue asked to go again because she felt she could do it better,” he said.
Kelvin went on: “That whole sequence there, they wanted it to feel theatrical, almost like a play, and it absolutely had that.”
The actor went on to share a message directly for Sue, lauding her performance as “absolutely incredible” and “the most emotional TV he has seen in a long while”.
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Liz, who wed Kelvin in 2015, went on to share more insight on this second take Sue insisted on, saying that they “did use the second take in the end”.
She pointed out how remarkable this is, when often actors insist on giving a scene a second go only to “fluff the lines”.
“She [Sue] does pick herself up after that scene and I think on the script it said once she’d finished this scene she just picked up the phone,” Liz continued.
“But she chose to get a mirror out of her bag, look at herself, compose herself, bring herself together, because she is the businesswoman that is held together.”
