Coronation Street’s Nathan Graham Opens Up To James’ Coming Out Storyline

James Bailey has finally told his father, Ed Bailey (Trevor Michael Georges) the truth about his sexuality. It appeared as the latter accepted it at first, but his true feelings about his son coming out was revealed later on. The actor behind the character of James, Nathan Graham, had something to say about his latest storyline and his on-screen father’s homophobic views.

“I think it was important to show that Ed looked like he accepted it, but then it is truthful to show that it isn’t quite accepted in some families,” Graham said.

“To show him struggling with it is a good thing to highlight,” he continued.

He went on to explain the storyline and said it felt like they were tackling two different things – the racism and the homophobia element. The actor feels that he needs to deal with these things at the same time.

“And to highlight both issues is really important. Discrimination is discrimination, whether its racism [or] homophobia, it’s all in the same bracket, and neither one is more important than the other,” he added.

James Comes Out To His Father

In last night’s episode, James came out to his father, who initially had a lukewarm reception to his son’s revelation about his sexuality. However, his temperament changed when James confessed that he’s dating Danny Tomlinson (Dylan Brady).

Later on, James overheard his father threatening Danny, which caused him and Ed to argue. The latter eventually admitted that he’s disappointed in his son. Ed’s comments didn’t end there. After James stormed out of the house, he made his homophobic views known to Aggie Bailey (Lorna Laidlaw), who then went out to find James.

Ian MacLeod’s Hints Come True

Viewers may recall that “Coronation Street” boss Ian MacLeod teased last year that all these things will happen.

“We’re quite keen that James knows who he is but has some apprehensiveness about telling his parents,” the producer revealed.

“And some apprehensiveness about his teammates finding out – when we meet the character he’s on the cusp of bigger things football-wise and is also aware that despite the process that we’ve made as a society, in lots of areas, homophobia on the terraces is fairly rampant,” he continued.

The producer continued that James is scared about the reaction. However, he’s not afraid that his family would reject him. Rather, it’s more about football.

Lorna Laidlaw’s Opinion

Lorna Laidlaw who plays the role of Aggie teased that the problem within their household following James’ revelation will continue. She said it will cause conflict.

“Because her bottom line is that this is my child full stop. There are no ‘ifs’, there are no ‘buts’ — this is our child, and there’s no discussion about his sexuality because they would never sit down and talk about Michael’s sexuality, they would just accept, so they have to do exactly the same with James,” she explained.

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