‘This breaks my heart'

Coronation Street star Mollie Gallagher talks about the shock attack on Nina and Seb, and why it’s a story that needs to be told…

- ALISON SLADE

Nina Lucas certainly made an impact when she arrived on the cobbles in 2019 with her Gothic look and prickly demeanour giving people plenty to talk about. But almost 18 months on, her individuality and honesty mean the locals have taken her to their hearts. Who’d have thought she and uncle Roy Cropper would have so much in common!

Sadly, not everyone in Weatherfield is so tolerant of young Nina, and there’s trauma in store for her and boyfriend Seb this week when they’re attacked by teen Corey and his mates, purely because of how she looks.

Corrie have worked with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation on the shock storyline – Sophie tragically died in 2007, aged just 20, when she and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were set upon by a group of youths in similar circumstances.

We caught up with Mollie Gallagher, who plays Nina, to talk about her heart-wrenching plot, and find out about her journey from Corrie fan to Corrie star...

We know a lot about Nina but little about you. How did you get into acting?

I grew up in Swinton, Manchester – I don’t live far from where Corrie is filmed. I have always wanted to be an actor; I think it started from enjoying being creative and having a big imagination. When I was younger, I was always playing with a doll’s house and I’d give the dolls their own personalities and flick between performing as them. My favourite doll was always the one that was going to go off and be an actor, and of course that was the doll I called Mollie. I did GCSE drama and after that, I went to college and then drama school – the Academy of Live & Recorded Arts in London. I was really lucky that when I graduated, I got the part of Nina, so I moved back to Manchester. My family love Corrie, so they were over the moon.