Coronation Street’s Nina Lucas has been through a lo;, the death of her boyfriend Seb Franklin in violent circumstances triggering PTSD and an anxiety disorder.
This month saw Children’s Mental Health Week, which aims to look at how young people are impacted by the numerous emotional conditions.
1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem, and many more struggle with challenges from bullying to bereavement.
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased this number and discussion has increased on the challenges young people face.
Coronation Street has been effectively looking at mental health in young characters and not just through Nina’s harrowing ordeal.
Kelly Neelan has struggled with huge trauma after being wrongly jailed for murder and then becoming homeless.
Young Sam Blakeman was rocked by the grief of losing his mum Natasha, which left him experiencing mutism.
The historic trauma of his mum’s murder has contributed to the lashing out of Max Turner while Summer Spellman has been struggling with bulimia.
And Asha Alahan has dealt with numerous image issues, with the character feeling pressured to bleach her skin and then being shamed with a filmed sex video.
The soap has been rightfully praised for the writing, ambition and performances around tackling these topics and part of the success is the relationships between the young friends while the mental health difficulties have intertwined, hitting home the fact that many young people experience the illnesses at once.
Mollie Gallagher recently spoke to Metro.co.uk and candidly discussed how her own anxiety has helped her shape her performance as Nina.
Admitting that she doesn’t leave Nina at the exit door, it’s clear how much she loves and values her character – and how important she finds representing the material accurately.
As she chatted to us, it was impossible not to feel admiration and also see how much she puts into Nina – even if it is emotionally exhausting.
Here is what she had to say:
How do you get into the frame of mind when playing Nina?
It’s interesting. I’ve always been an anxious person really, so the whole intrusive thoughts and the things Nina is going through, I relate to it – not in the same way as Nina because she’s been through this trauma – but for me, growing up…you have compulsions don’t you, you think in your head ‘oh if I do this, something bad won’t happen’.
I relate to that quite a lot, I understood it quite easily, it was something I do relate to which I guess was quite helpful.
Are you proud to educate audiences about mental health on a mainstream program?
Definitely, when they said everything about Nina’s aftermath, I was really happy. I have my own experiences, I thought it would be great thing to try and do.
It is very different, Nina isn’t showing any compulsions, I think that’s interesting to explore, it manifests itself in different ways and I think that’s important to show, how anxiety is different for everyone.
Your co-stars are taking on storylines that would fall under the mental health bracket, do you all feel you might’ve learnt something by watching each others work?
You do learn, yes. You only know your own experiences, I think it is interesting and really important to learn about, it can help people who experience it and look out for anxiety in friends and family and offer support for anyone.
There is an outdated misconception that only older people watch Corrie, do you think it’s important to reach the younger demographic?
Definitely. I think sometimes, things that are hard to explain, if a young person is watching Corrie and relating to Nina’s story, they can use it as a point of reference.
I feel, how Nina is, it may help people realise they’ve been struggling and may not even know it’s a condition, they may think they do the things they do because it’s part of them.
Roy is an important factor in Nina’s support network which is very notable and valuable to show…
Yeah absolutely, he’s brilliant and the characters and dynamics are brilliant. For all the viewers, it’s beneficial because Roy is such an understanding parent, it shows a really positive perspective to have someone who understands, which is what you need.
Do you support one another and check in when filming these stories?
Yeah, especially when I have to film scenes where Nina is panicking because your heart rate is really going! Everyone is great and people always check in. It’s great that people are always there.
Do you ever take your work/storyline home?
I definitely don’t switch off! That’s just my natural personality, I get very attached to things, I’m very attached to Nina. Not in a bad way, I think that’s why I wanted to be an actor, I’m such a feeler of everything, I feel emotions really intensely, I think that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.
I think it fits me, it’s no problem, so long as you know you’re not obsessing I think it’s fine if you can deal with it. I don’t switch off completely but, in a way, it’s fine for me really.
Do you feel protective of Nina?
I think about her quite a lot, but it only helps when filming scenes. You get time off as well.
A lot of people have reacted positively to young actors and characters within the show, how does that make you feel?
It’s the absolute best feeling. It means that what you’ve done, you’ve done it right. You have goals and the audience is everything really.
You want to do everything right, especially with such important topics. When you get good feedback and stories that have helped people, it’s the best thing. It’s very rewarding to know storylines are helping people and saving lives.
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