Corrie - Alison King (Carla Connor)

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There's more to come from Carla Connor and her tangled love life
Apr 11 2010
Steve Hendry,
Sunday Mail

ALISON KING could be forgiven for worrying her days as Coronation Street sex siren Carla Connor are on the wane. In three years in the soap she's been linked with Weatherfield's high rollers - even if some of them, such as murderer hubby Tony Gordon, have turned out to be low-life. Now, she's stepping out with a binman. The actress, however, laughs off any suggestion her liaison with Trevor Dean - played by Steve Jackson - means times are hard. As far as she's concerned, Carla has come to her senses and realised it's her usual taste in men which is a load of rubbish.

She said: "One thing Carla isn't is stupid and that's why she has gone against type and gone for Trevor. He's really nice. He's a bit of a rock for her and she's feeling quite comfortable with it. He's a big huggy bear to her and looks after her. However long that will last, I don't know. I mean, she does like a bit of drama."

That's something of an understatement. Corrie's femme fatale has seen two of her blokes go to the grave and another go to prison. The fact she has seen off leading men Sean Gallagher (Paul Connor), Rob James Collier (his brother Liam) and Gray O'Brien (Tony) is a surprise to Alison, but she has worked hard to survive.

She joked: "Is it me? All my boys leave. It's a bit frightening and there have been times when I've thought, 'What's going to happen to me now?' But it's worked out okay so far. In fact it's been brilliant. Carla seems to fit in the street in a weird way. She hasn't got many friends but she just seems to make it her own, as if she's been there her whole life. You've got to make your mark when you come on Coronation Street. You have to find the character within the character you've been given. That's really important in any job you do, otherwise you get bored and the writers get bored. "

Of course, it helps to be a character who draws strong opinions from viewers, and in her time on the show she's been voted both sexiest female and best bitch, which kind of says it all about Carla. Such plaudits are far removed from Alison's real life, which is taken up with her partner, Corrie sound technician Adam Huckett and their her Gray 14-month-old daughter, Daisy Mae. When she talks about her, Alison just goes gooey-eyed. She said: "I love motherhood. My daughter is hilarious. She just makes me laugh every day."

Having returned to the show last October, she is well used to being a working mum but she admits she is as tired as she is happy. She laughed: "It's really knackering going home to learn lines. That's when a glazed look comes over me. I've been doing rehearsals in the Rovers, with my lines from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday all laid out. Then when they call action I quickly put them under the desk. But it's amazing having a job where I can see my daughter in the morning, sometimes have a day off during the week, and at weekends too. It's swings and roundabouts. It's just good to be working because a lot of people aren't."

Alison, 37, admits she'd be interested to see how her alter ego Carla coped with a child, although she's ruled out any more for herself at the moment. She said: "Not at the minute. It's been the best year but the hardest year I've ever had. I think maybe leaving it to my age it's even harder than doing it when you are younger. Not just for me but for Carla? Maybe. I wouldn't say she's got a natural maternal streak so might be nice to see if she'd go really, really gooey."

Before Carla can soften her heart, she's got a few things to take care of - most of them involving men. First, there's the return of Tony Gordon. Former River City star Gray O'Brien is reportedly returning to The Street after Tony breaks out of prison and heads for Weatherfield to settle some scores. There's been no official announcement as yet so Alison is saying nothing about that storyline but admits it's would be a to team up with her old sparring partner.

She said: "If Tony was to come back I think Carla would fear for life. That would be pretty gruesome for her but working with again would be good. He's brilliant. It is a different experience every day. He can misbehave like the rest of them but he's good with me."More pressing is the arrival of Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) at the Underworld factory as her new partner. He's more her usual type than binman Trevor and Alison admits something could be brewing.

She said: "There is definitely chemistry to be had. Nick's wrapped up in the business at the moment and he's stressed out. If anything, Carla stresses him out even more at the moment. There's a twinkle and they probably find each other attractive but at the moment, he finds her annoying and she doesn't trust him. But I think there's room for that to change and be more like Moonlighting - a sort of Cybill Shepherd/Bruce Willis type relationship.

"I don't want her relationship with Trevor to become boring. I think she's better being spicy. I think it has to be complicated by Nick somehow. I'm looking forward to having a sparring partner. It gets a bit boring after a while, just going into the office and shouting at everybody. It's nice to have a good cop/bad cop scenario."

From all that's gone before and all that seems to be ahead, Alison is very obviously at the heart of the show. She doesn't, however, take it for granted that will always be the case. She said: "When you have a big heavy storyline you feel strong. You always feel weaker when you are not in so much and I haven't been in much for the last six months with having Daisy and everything. Then all of a sudden, I'm so busy just now I literally can't see. You never take it for granted. I hope Carla is loved as much as she's hated but it's all in the hands of the writers. If you are in it, you are in it to win it and if you're not you look for something else."

Alison had a busy career before Coronation Street, appearing in shows such as Dream Team and film appearances alongside Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights and Steven Seagal in action flick Submerged. As a result, she has no fears about life after Coronation Street, although she admits being a mum has given her a more cautious outlook.

She said: "I'll have done four years in Coronation Street in October but because I had more or less a year out it still feels very fresh. I'm certainly in no rush to get out of it. I'm really lucky to be in this job. But I had a great career before I came into the show - 11 years working non-stop. Hopefully I wouldn't be too scared to do a few more silly action films if I could get them under my belt. I'll know when it's time to go but I'm not there yet."

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