Corrie’s Mason star says old pal who inspired bully character has reached out

Coronation Street star Luca Toolan confessed one of his ex-school mates reached out after watching the soap.

Over the past few weeks, ITV fans have been gripped to their screens as school bully Mason Radcliffe (played by Luca Toolan) has wreaked havoc at Weatherfield High School. Viewers have watched Liam Connor (Charlie Wrenshall) and Dylan Wilson (Liam McCheyne) be terrorised by the high schooler ever since he arrived on the Street.

After months of bullying his fellow students, Mason has built quite a reputation for himself both inside and outside of the school grounds. Arguably, the student most struggling with his arrival is Liam who has been bullied by him every day.

Now, the actor has revealed how he developed his cruel character by using personality traits from students he studied with. In an interview with Daily Star and other press, the up-and-coming star reflected on how his time in education has influenced the role of Mason.

He told us: “I went to an all boys school, so for me the only bullying I did see was outside of school. This is where I took a lot of the influence for Mason.

“So there would always be one area where we used to hang out and there’d be some lads that would resemble Mason. But we were usually the ones running away.

“So I think when you see that it’s so imprinted in your mind and you grow up on shows that show that, it did actually help me quite a lot with the character. There’s human beings who I use, and I remember their mannerisms and how they speak and the way they come across that I use for Mason.”

The actor went on to reveal that one of his former classmates even reached out to him after they watched his performance on Coronation Street. Luca explained: “One of them even reached out to me the other day and they were like, ‘That’s exactly how I speak’ and I was using that person for reference.”

He pointed out that he didn’t use the mannerisms of the bullies he went to school with but a culmination of characteristics from several people he knew growing up. The actor added: “This wasn’t one of the bullies, but it was one of the people I knew that had that sort of persona.”

Most recently, fans watched Liam contemplate taking his own life on the soap in order to end Mason’s constant torment both inside and outside the school grounds. Elsewhere, ITV favourite Samia Longchambon – who plays Liam’s mum Maria – also opened up about her horrific bullying ordeal at school.

The star previously told us: ““If I’m completely honest, I was bullied throughout my childhood at different times. I was bullied a little bit at primary school and then I was bullied at high school as well.

“So I can only go off how it was for me, and I think that it’s important to talk to people, to not bottle things up and to tell them. Even as much as people are scared of being a snitch and all the stigma attached to that.

“The bigger picture is that you just need to tell an adult, you need to tell your friends, you just need to keep talking.” Viewers will have to stay tuned to see whether or not Mason will face the cold hand of justice or not.