Beverley Callard has “shut the door” on ‘Coronation Street’ “forever”.
Beverley Callard
The 63-year-old actress first played Liz McDonald in the ITV soap in 1989, and after taking several breaks and returning to the show on multiple occasions, she announced in 2019 she would bid her final farewell.
And now, Beverley has confirmed she has no plans to ever reprise the role again, as she’s given soap bosses permission to kill off her character.
She said: “It was a massive decision for me to make, but I believe I did it for the right reasons. I felt Liz had run her course. I’d hate to cheat any fans out there who were waiting and hoping for something amazing to happen to her. I felt like she’d lost her way.”
And when asked how she would have liked Liz to say farewell, she added: “I would have loved it if Liz and Jim had got back together. Even if they’d ended up heading off into the sunset together, you’d know there’d be a lot of drama beforehand! Sadly, you can’t decide your own storylines and since I’m not going to film an exit they could even kill me off-screen. If they do I’ll accept it with grace. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I know that this time I’ve shut the door on ‘Coronation Street’ forever.”
Beverley won’t get the chance to film an exit for Liz amid concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, and although she “toyed with the idea” of going back to the cobbles one more time, she’s now “sure” that her time on the show is over.
Speaking to the Sunday Express magazine, she said: “Obviously, you can stay and just take the cheque, but I didn’t want to do that. I adore the Street, the character, and the fans too much to do that. I was actually toying with the idea of going back to film an exit, but I felt that they wouldn’t be able to do Liz justice under the current COVID restrictions.
“I want to preserve her. Considering the current climate for actors, it’s unsurprising that everyone told me to go back and take the money, but that’s just not me. I have to earn my pay. The pandemic has given me time to assess how I feel about everything, and I’m sure that my time on the cobbles is up.”
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