Coronation Street’s newcomer Beth Nixon almost made it onto the soap before joining as Megan but things didn’t quite go to plan the first time around
Coronation Street’s Megan actress Beth Nixon has opened up about how she came very close to playing another character.
Beth made her debut on the ITV soap late last year, as the athletics coach of youngster Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) who moved from Hull to Weatherfield with his family.
This includes his dad Ben (Aaron McCusker), grandmother Maggie (Pauline McLynn) and Ben’s girlfriend Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) who returned to the street after seven years.
However, it was later revealed that Megan has been grooming 16-year-old Will for months, prior to his move. Their secret relationship has gone unnoticed so far and Will’s family are none the wiser about Megan’s true colours.
Megan has also moved to the cobbles and bagged a job at Weatherfield High School. She’s struck up a romance with fellow teacher Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) too – much to Will’s anger and jealousy.
In Monday’s episode (January 12) while decorating son Bertie’s house for his upcoming birthday, a smitten Daniel asked Megan if she wanted to attend, to which she agreed to.
As expected the character of Megan has ruffled plenty of disgusted viewers so far. But for actress Beth Nixon, it wasn’t the first role she auditioned for on the soap.
In an interview from last year, Beth spoke about how she landed the Corrie job, and admitted she was left in tears when she found out she would be appearing on the programme.
Speaking to York College, Beth shared that the casting team had seen Beth in several shows at her drama school: the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, so she was “kind of on their radar.”
Revealing her past audition history, Beth explained: “But I’d auditioned for Corrie twice before – as a baddie both times of course – including for the role of Lauren.” Actress Cait Fitton ended up being cast as Lauren, making her debut in 2022, and has remained on the show since.
Beth added: “Then, earlier this year, my agent sent me a casting brief and explained it was for a paedophile, which is a bit crazy to play because they’re obviously not a redeemable character, so they can push it pretty far.”
After sending a self-tape Beth attended a chemistry test with other actors who were being considered to play Will. She then performed a scene on the set at The Bistro – and it turned out the bosses were rather impressed with her.
Beth – who was working as a skin clinic manager before joining Corrie – said: “I was at work when my agent called me. I was upstairs as my colleague watched the desk and, when he told me I’d got it, everybody in the clinic could hear me screaming my head off and then I cried, because it’s been four years since I graduated and this is my first TV role.
“It’s been a hard time and I was really close to quitting, having a normal job and pursuing a different career, so this just came at exactly the right time and when I needed it.”
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Source: Mirror
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