Coronation Street: Ryan Russell On Racism Storyline: “These Things Do Happen”

It has been previously announced that “Coronation Street” would further discuss systemic racism with the Bailey family and soap star Ryan Russell has discussed more of what’s coming.

It was in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement that the ITV soap revealed members of the Bailey family are set to tackle real-life experiences in the soap and next week, a major story will play with James Bailey (Ryan) in a racist police arrest.

To celebrate his success after being invited to write in a leading gay magazine, Michael’s brother James (Nathan Graham) takes on a fancy sports car and the two get to test drive it.

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‘Coronation Street’ Spoilers – Pulled Over By The Police

However, the siblings are pulled over by the police officer PC Brody (Daniel Jillings) without a fair reason.

James insists to the know the reason they were stopped and PC Brody accuses him of obstruction and arrests him without giving a warrant.

But the scene turns intense when the footballer trips and injures his leg while the police officer handcuffs him, leading him to worry his football career is over.

Understanding what has transpired, Ryan’s character Michael demands that James file a formal complaint but he rejects it. However, James changes his mind sooner when someone who filmed the scenario uploaded the video online.

Realizing the intensity of his actions, PC Brody puts colleague Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) at crossroads by asking him not to tell their bosses that he actually arrested them unfairly although Jame’s driving was fine.

In an interview with Digital Spy, Ryan revealed: “[Michael] feels like the reason he and James have been stopped is because they are two Black guys in a car and he also doesn’t get the answer he needs when he calls the police out on it.”

Michael’s thoughts were proven true when the police officer doesn’t provide a valid reason they were pulled over.

The actor also hinted at on-screen neighbor Craig’s standing as a peace-keeper between the two parties. “Craig is initially the peace-keeper because he sees that James is under stress and he wants him to get some help and go to hospital,” he said.

“But Michael feels that Craig is taking the side of the other police officer and not necessarily standing up for Michael and James. Michael thinks that Craig is treating the situation like a misunderstanding and this is what upsets Michael because he thinks Craig knows them better than that, as friends,” he added.

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‘Coronation Street’ Spoilers – Police Racist Arrest Triggers Ryan’s Mental Health

The actor has also revealed that this storyline will come to play on with his character’s mental health.

After experiencing numerous racist incidents in Weatherfield and knowing that it has happened to many Black men throughout history, Ryan starts to overthink a lot because of trust issues.

“It’s one thing after another and although it’s not always necessarily affecting him, it is affecting the people around him who he loves so that is really getting to him,” he said.

The actor emphasized the importance of this storyline because these things do happen in reality.

He mentioned he watched Jermaine Jenas’s documentary, The Truth About Police Stop & Search, and was gutted to know that some people have been stopped 20 times during a regular day just because of their skin color.

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Coronation Street right now.