Graduate Ryan lands controversial 'Corrie' role
Tuesday 9 April 2019
CONGRATULATIONS to Salford alumnus Ryan Russell who is part of the first ever black family in Coronation Street.
Ryan, a graduate of the popular Media & Performance course, will play Michael Bailey (right, in our image) in the series making his first major break into drama after working as a children’s TV presenter.
“Its fabulous for him, a real game changer,” says his former lecturer Malcolm Raeburn, who remembers the 2014 graduate as a “very good student, and a very good actor”.
”It’s a not a surprise but certainly a delight to see him on a top TV show.”
And Ryan is certainly in the spotlight, and not just for acting in the world’s longest running soap opera.
Black family 'long overdue'
Playing the eldest son of Edison and Aggie, the former CBeebies House frontman is, remarkably, part of the first black family in the ‘Street’ in 59 years of broadcasts.
To many observers the addition has come incredibly late for a show which has been watched by up to a third of the British public, a fact that has caused a huge amount of comment in the UK, with even the New York Times weighing in.
The show will explore themes of racism and homophobia in sport with the family, with a reported storyline that ‘Michael’s brother James, a 19-year-old footballer, will come out as gay.
Other 'Corrie' graduates include:
- Dean Fagan (graduated 2010) who had a long-running role as mechanic Luke Britton
- Ryan Mulvey (2017)
- Emma Hartley-Miller (graduated (2005)
- Erin Shanagher (also 2005 – now a lecturer here)
- Rosina Carbone
- And last but not least, Chris Bisson, who played Vikram Desai.
Find out more
Gareth Hollyman, Senior Press & PR Officer (Science)
0161 295 6895 g.b.hollyman@salford.ac.uk
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