Coronation Street’s Richard Hawley: Shayne played the whole thing beautifully

Coronation Street’s Richard Hawley has praised co-star Shayne Ward for his portrayal of Aidan Connor and his storyline addressing male suicide.

Ward’s final scenes aired on Monday in a double bill of the soap.

Wednesday night’s instalment will see the residents of Weatherfield dealing with the aftermath of Aidan’s suicide.

Hawley, who plays Aidan’s father Johnny in the ITV soap, told Lorraine: “I think Shayne played the whole thing beautifully really, what he managed to connect with the show is the disconnect that you feel when you’re in that place, from other people.”

He continued: “I just almost want it to be a moment where everybody who is touched by it can just take that moment and make almost a great vow to do something about changing that culture, this culture where this is going on.”

During Ward’s final scenes Aidan said farewell to his ex-fiancee Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) and they shared a dance to their favourite song, Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine.

Viewers then saw him sitting in the Rovers Return as the same song played and a final shot depicted him sitting alone on the sofa with tears falling down his cheeks.

Coronation Street has been raising awareness of male suicide, described as a silent epidemic.

Hawley told Lorraine: “It’s a story of invisible pain.

“As well as talking about it, hopefully this is a kick-start to something, shining a light on it, but it’s also about creating infrastructures and ways of carrying that conversation on and deepening that conversation.

“This is great that we are trying to put in a stop point, an emergency point, but it’s a cultural shift that needs to happen, really around masculinity, the masculine and the female.”

On Monday Ward also encouraged viewers to find help and advice on ITV’s website in a video recording during which he said: “Talking can bring relief and it can help us see a way through, there is help and support available right now.”