Having started on Coronation Street aged 12 and grown up on the cobbles in front of our eyes, it’s obviously quite difficult to look at Jack P Shepherd and not instantly think ‘David Platt’.
And even as our sister publication Woman’s Own meets the 32-year-old actor at the TRIC Awards, it soon becomes apparent that he’s not too far removed from his soap alter ego.
Although in real life, Jack’s mum didn’t marry a serial killer who tried to murder the whole family in a car, and he’s not lost two wives due to stabbings or shootings.
But Jack is definitely every bit as much of a class clown as his character, David. Throughout his chat, Jack constantly cracks jokes and reels out a string of hilarious anecdotes.
He also discusses how long he’s going to stay on Corrie for, and how he’s able to juggle working long hours while still managing to co-parent his two children, Nyla, 11, and Reuben, six, with his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Shippey.
Hi, Jack! You’ve been on Corrie for 20 years. What keeps you there?
Everybody who joins the show usually says, ‘I’m only going to do a year,’ or ‘I’m only going to do two years,’ then they wake up and they go, ‘Oh f**k, I’ve done six and I never wanted to!’ And it’s because of the people. Everyone just takes the p**s, everyone has a laugh.
What’s been your favourite storyline of David’s?
I particularly liked when his wife Kylie died on the street. That whole storyline was well-written, well-produced and well-directed. I felt like everybody really wanted to make it look great.
Who is the biggest joker on set?
There are loads! You can’t say who’s the biggest, as it’ll just be like a grenade. There’s me, Alan Halsall, Simon Gregson, Ben Price, Andy Whyment, Jimmi Harkishin and David Neilson. There’s a lot, but that’s fun.
How do you guys actually get any work done on set?!
We do a bit of filming every now and again, when the red light’s on and we know what we’re doing. As soon as that light’s off, we just take the p**s out of each other – and everything’s fine. It’s a lot of fun there!
Do the cast spend time together outside work? Or do you all go your separate ways?
Yes we do, and as much of a cliché as it sounds, it’s like a family at Corrie. If I want to spend more time with the people I’m working with after we’ve finished work, that’s the telling thing. It means I must like that job.
Is it true your own mum gets jealous of your telly mum Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt?
No, no, she doesn’t!
You’re a dad to two kids yourself. How do you manage to juggle that and working on Corrie?
So if I have my children, I’ll just leave them outside. I’m joking! If I get my schedule with Corrie and I also have my kids two, three or four times a week, then I just have to work as well. It’s not something to juggle. It’s just the way it is.
How much longer do you think you’ll stay before moving on?
I think I’ve probably got about a week left to go… No, only joking! We’ve got the 60th anniversary coming up, so there’s lots of big stories happening around then. The cast are all involved, the Platts are all involved. So that’s exciting times and we’ll see what the future holds, but at the minute everyone’s focused on making the 60th a really big celebration.
