The world’s longest-running television soap, Coronation Street, has just cast its first ever actor who has Down syndrome!
The British show’s official Twitter announced the happy news during their recent press day, revealing that actor Liam Bairstow will join the soap as Cathy Matthew’s nephew, Alex.
“Cathy’s nephew Alex to be played by Liam Bairstow who was cast during ITV’s #breakingthroughtalent #CorriePressDay,” read the Twitter account.
Coronation Street’s tweet about Liam’s casting.
Liam, who has already begun filming, was discovered through his theatre workshop group, Breaking Through, and was asked to join shortly after impressing the casting executives.
“We ran a workshop called Breaking Through a while ago, which was for actors with disabilities,” said Coronation Street producer, Stuart Blackburn, “It was recognising that they get so few auditions, and actually we found a young guy there called Liam Bairstow, an actor with Down syndrome.”
“He’s going to be coming in as Cathy’s nephew.”
“It’s not some politically correct thing,” Stuart added, “We actually found there a really great actor with a wonderful sense of timing. The cast have really enjoyed working with him.”
Liam’s own Bradford-based Mind the Gap theatre group has also Tweeted out their support for their actor, writing, “MTG Resident Artist Liam Bairstow has landed himself a part on Coronation Street! He’ll be on your screen in Sept!”
The show’s iconic Street sign.
They followed it with another proud tweet, “Congratulations on a really exciting new approach to casting! We’re delighted for our Liam, can’t wait to see him on the street!”
In an interview last year, Liam spoke out acting on the big screen.
“I could never imagine leaving Mind the Gap, but if I did I would love to be on TV,” said Liam, “I remember when ITV’s Katherine Kelly visited Mind the Gap to congratulate our director Tim on the success of the company so I would love to be on ITV, maybe playing a Dingle in Emmerdale!”
Liam’s character Alex is set to make his appearance later this year.
Best of luck, Liam!
