Coronation Street star Luca Toolan reveals Mason's secret backstory
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Luca Toolan, who plays Mason Radcliffe, has revealed his character's secret backstory.
Since joining the soap last year, Mason has been at the centre of an emotional storyline about school bullying. The new arrival has been cruelly targeting Maria Connor's young son, Liam – with Dylan Wilson, Sean Tully's son, closely involved.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media, Toolan shared aspects of Mason's upbringing, which could offer some insight into his horrific behaviour.
"He doesn't have a father figure present, which explains a lot," Toolan said.
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The actor continued: "He's involved in a lot. He has a lot of masculine influence that doesn't provide him an outlet to talk about his feelings at all – in fact, quite the opposite. He's been encouraged to suppress.
"It's like when you shake up a can of Coke. When that's shook, and when you have that stuff going on in your family, it builds up that pressure, and I think that pressure is affecting him. His way of alleviating that pressure is taking it out on Liam, taking it out on Dylan.
"And I think that's just a ticking time bomb. It's just getting worse and worse. The anger inside him is like an acid; it eats him up. I can't really see it getting better. I can only see it getting worse because of his upbringing."
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Toolan also discussed whether he thought his character felt guilt over his behaviour. "I don't think he does," he said, adding, "I was putting a lot of myself into the character.
He continued: "I was thinking, 'As a rational human being, you would obviously feel guilty,' but I think it's important to not want to judge your characters and to just see them for what they are and for what they've been through.
"I don't think in his head it registers that he's doing anything bad. It's just the way he's been conditioned in his family."
Toolan added: "In my backstory for him, it's always been 'the weak are preyed on,' and he is the weak in the family. So he's being preyed on by his family members, and so in return, he lashes out and repeats what he sees in the family setting."
The Mason saga continues in scenes airing next week, as the Weatherfield bully sets up Dylan to ensure he gets the blame for carrying a knife used in a recent assault.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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