HARD LESSONS TO LEARN

Kara Tointon and Will Mellor star as teachers whose reckless act during a school trip ends in disaster

Will Mellor has been on our screens for nearly 35 years, starting out in the 90s kids’ medical drama Children’s Ward, then moving on to Hollyoaks and the sitcom Two Pints And A Packet Of Crisps. More recently, we’ve seen him in Strictly, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office and now he’s in the second series of The Teacher.

However, despite his success the 48-year-old says he’s still “very insecure” when it comes to acting and is “terrified” by job uncertainty.

Will stars alongside former EastEnders regular Kara Tointon in the drama, which has a new story for series two following Sheridan Smith’s turn as a teacher accused of sexual misconduct in the first series. Kara plays Dani – an art teacher whose night of passion on a school trip with her colleague Jimmy (Will) leads to tragedy.

Although he has decades of experience under his belt, Will admits that he would frequently turn to Kara for reassurance over his performance during filming. “We were shooting out of sequence so my first scenes were from episode four. I would say to Kara, ‘Did I get that right?’ You have to have that trust on set,” he says. “We’re very insecure actors, we are. We went home at the end of the night and I was doing scenes to myself in the mirror that I’d already shot. What’s the point in that? It’s done!”