CAIT FITTON TALKS ABOUT THE LAST 12 MONTHS FOR HER CHARACTER

With Lauren Bolton having had an extremely tough 2024, the character is currently in prison for killing Joel Deering it's no surprise that Lauren is struggling even though she has been reunited with her son, Frankie in the mother and baby unit as well as being supported by her boyfriend, Max Turner who has also offered to help with Frankie.

Cait Fitton who plays Lauren recently sat down to talk about her character Lauren's year and how she felt about the past 12 months saying “It’s definitely been exhausting but also very rewarding. Mainly because I wanted to do it well, and to do it well, you need to know the story inside out. I did a lot of research. I also worked with charities to make sure I got the story right. I feel like I've now got to the point where I’m getting a bit more control back and can focus on what’s now for Lauren, because she’s a completely different person than she was prior to leaving, or even coming back. She's now killed someone and that’s going to stay with her for a long time, I don't know how she will come back from that.” Before continuing “But the past year has been really eye opening, not just for me but hopefully for the audience too, as well as people who have experienced similar things or know people who have experienced it. I hope they know that they are valued, seen and heard, which was the main thing I wanted from this storyline.”

Photo Credit: ITV/ Coronation Street

Over recent weeks it was revealed that Lauren was Joel Deering's killer and when asked about how long she has known Lauren was the one to kill Joel, Cait added “I knew very early on, pretty much when I came back which was quite a shock. It’s hard to know that this will come because me and Calum have an amazing friendship and I've loved working with him. When you see someone everyday and work so closely together, it's hard to know that it will come to an end. To not have him now has been really strange, he's done the part amazingly well and even in the episodes leading up to his death, I felt sorry for Joel and I caught myself saying “why do you feel sorry for someone who's done that?” but when you find an actor that can make you laugh, cry and hate them, that's when you know they're a great actor.”

Before being asked how did you and Calum Lill get into character for those hard-hitting scenes, Cait explained “For the flashback scenes, we stayed away from each other in between takes. The flashback scene where it looked like Lauren was dead was a 12 hour filming day, so for 12 hours, we had to stay in character. We actually said to each other to stay in separate parts of the room and if we walked past each other, we didn't even want to lock eye contact. If I did walk past him, he'd growl or glare at me, but it was a really fun experience. Once filming was over, we would always do something to break character like high five or hug to make sure each of us were comfortable, which was really important in this storyline.”

When asked about her initial reaction to the storyline, Cait stated “I was definitely scared and nervous because Lauren is such a complex character and I love playing her because I know her and her journey and can understand why she is the way she is, but the scary thing was that she wasn't on the street for long so a lot of the audience didn't really like her or know her. One thing I've learned is if a storyline excites you but scares you, you just need to go for it and can't overthink it.”

Photo Credit: ITV/ Coronation Street

Ever since Lauren returned in July, Lauren's friendship with Max Turner has been a vital part, what is it about Max that she can trust, Cait said “Max and Lauren have been through so much together and although they are trauma bonded, they also just have so much love for each other. Max has been the only person in Lauren's life that has always respected her and put her first, and that’s why he's the only person in the world that she can trust.” Before adding “It's just sad because they dream of this perfect life together, and when it's in reaching distance, he hands himself in for a murder that he didn’t actually commit. I was even watching it on TV shouting “why!” Lauren's never had any stability in life, and now that she has Frankie who is her reason to live and breathe, the fact Max stuck around and has loved him like his own has created even more of a bond between them.”

To end, Cait Fitton was asked about her favourite memory of the past year saying “I have genuinely loved every second of the past year and learned so much about myself and the industry but there's two storyline memories which are my favourite.” Cait continued “The first one would be the flashback scene, when it looked like Joel murdered Lauren, because as I mentioned before, that’s the longest I’ve ever had to stay in character. The adrenaline was real afterwards. My other favourite memory would be Calum’s last day on location. Finishing with him and being a part of his journey was so bittersweet and really special to be a part of. Filming on location is such a different experience than when you’re back at base, because you know your surroundings at base, so there’s always something really exciting about being on location and not being able to imagine what the end product will look like until you see it on screen.”

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday's at 8pm on ITV with episodes available from 7am on ITVX.