Michael Le Vell says the 'Coronation Street' cast have more lines to learn since the coronavirus pandemic restrictions were implemented - but he has praised the soap's crew for doing "an awful lot more" than the cobbles stars.
Michael Le Vell
The 55-year-old actor - who has played Kevin Webster on the ITV soap since 1983 - admitted it is "still enjoyable" working on the show amid the new restrictions, which mean fewer characters are allowed in scenes, and he heaped praise on the show's hard-working crew members who put in 12-hour shifts during the harsh Weatherfield winter.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz and other media in a webinar ahead of the soap's 60th anniversary later this month, he said: "With Covid they don't seem to be using as many characters, because you can't have as many characters in scenes.
"So you seem to be getting more words to learn.
"It's still enjoyable.
"We do our bit but to be fair, the crew do an awful lot more than we do.
"We come in for four/ five/ six hours. They're here for 12 hours a day.
"So a big hand up to all the crew. Especially this time of year when it is really cold outside."
Michael admitted it is "quite strenuous" shooting five/ six episodes a week compared to when the soap only aired twice a week, and there are more "social issue" storylines in the scripts nowadays.
When asked how 'Corrie' has changed in his time in Weatherfield, he said: "We try to do more social issue stories, and try to make people aware of different things. But we still keep the humour.
"Years gone by we've mainly [focused] on humour and character-based [plots].
"Now it's a lot storyline-driven at the minute.
"As well as going from two episodes a week to five/ six a week and having no rehearsal - that's quite strenuous."
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