‘Coronation Street’ actor Antony Cotton has spoken about the hostility he often receives from young gay people about his portrayal of Sean Tully in the ITV soap.
The flamboyant Rovers Return barman first arrived on the ‘Corrie’ cobbles in 2003, and has gone on to feature in a number of the show's dramatic storylines.
Antony Cotton
But while Antony says that Sean has been well-received by some viewers, he’s admitted that some members of the gay community have been less happy about the camp character cropping up on their TV screens.
During a talk about gay characters in ‘Coronation Street’ on Tuesday night, as quoted in The Mirror, Antony said: “I get a lot of stick from people who say, and these are people who are 21 years old, 'you've put the gay cause back 21 years.'
"Or they say 'you're a disgrace to this village'. You'd be surprised how many kids say that to me."
Antony, in character as Sean
However, while other characters on the soap - such as Todd Grimshaw, Marcus Dent, Hayley Cropper and Sophie Webster - have gone through difficulties and painful times because of their LGBT status, Sean arrived in the soap already out and proud, which he reckons makes him more "politically" important than the other characters.
"So for every one of those people who say to me that Sean's a stereotype, and that he doesn't have a political storyline, actually the fact he's never had to explain himself makes him the most political gay character in soap."
Comedian Alan Carr has made similar remarks about the abuse he receives in the past, tweeting back in April: “The most homophobia I get is from gays.”
Antony recently teased a “controversial” storyline involving Sean in the future, telling Attitude magazine: “Fans of the show will enjoy it, and it'll be fun. But there's an element to it that I think will get some people wound up.”
