Coronation Street Bookie Eyes Up A New Woman

Mar 2 2008 By Steve Hendry

Showbiz The Big Interview Matthew Crompton Is Corrie's Latest Bad Boy

Dodgy bookie Dan Mason is odds on to be a big hit in Weatherfield.

Dan is a hard-nosed businessman who will do whatever it takes to get what he is owed - as hapless chef Paul Clayton finds out this week when Dan literally takes the shirt off his back. Paul is left in just a pair of Superman boxers after he can't pay off a hefty debt.

But Dan - played by former Bill star Matthew Crompton - is also a smooth-talking ladies' man who is set to hook up with Coronation Street vamp Leanne Battersby in a relationship which will guarantee fireworks and, potentially, a long and successful future on the Street.

But, like every good bookie, Matthew, 36, knows from experience there is no such thing as a dead cert.

He said: "Things are going well, everything's looking good and I am absolutely loving being on Coronation Street.

"But I never let my feet get comfortable under the table. In this industry you never know what's round the corner and I'll never let myself relax.

"I'd love to see some longevity in Dan's relationship with Leanne. I can see them getting up to some great mischief, being a kind of Bonnie and Clyde. But that's up to people other than me. "I just focus on the day, do the best I can and make sure I enjoy it."

Matthew has good reason to sound cautious. He spent four years on The Bill as PC Sam Harker but was unceremoniously axed when controversial producer Paul Marquess arrived and promptly killed off six regular characters in an explosion in 2002.

Although Matthew has worked since, starring in Brookside and guesting on the likes of Heartbeat and Casualty, regular work had tailed off and he admits he seriously considered quitting acting before Corrie came calling.

He could be forgiven for being bitter about his departure from Sun Hill but he received the news on a day which changed the modern world for ever and put his own problem in stark perspective.

He said: "I was told I was being written out on September 11, 2001. I was on location and had been sat in a Winnebago watching the planes fly into the twin towers with my mouth hanging open.

"Then I got a call that Paul Marquess wanted to see me. It could only have meant one thing really.

"When you get a new executive coming in you accept they will want to stamp their mark on the show but it was quite traumatic when it happened.

"It was surreal because of the weight of everything that was going on in America and how it was obviously going to affect the world. Me losing my job seemed a bit insignificant.

"I was fortunate in that three months after The Bill I went into Brookside, which kept me going.

"But I had real doubts about continuing as an actor just before Corrie came up. I had bit parts on Casualty and Heartbeat and was also writing and performing my own material on the comedy circuit in London and really enjoying that.

"But I'd also been working on a building site and loved that. It was really hard, physical work and you felt like you'd earned your money.

"I was also aware I'd soon be turning 40. Was I going to continue through life with this insecurity? "Although you enjoy it and it's ingrained to you, I felt I had to put a timescale on it if it wasn't going well. I was going to give acting another two years then retrain."

That looks highly unlikely in the foreseeable future but Matt's experiences before joining the show have made him appreciate Corrie more.

He also got the added bonus of a close relationship with Jack Ellis, the former Bad Girls villain who plays his screen father, flash Harry.

It's as well they get on off-screen as Harry is in Dan's face all the time, even stealing his date from under his nose.

Matthew laughed: "He's a bit of a chap is 'gentleman Jack'. When we did the screen test there were about six actors going for my character and another six actors up for his.

"But they put us in a studio together, put the cameras on us and off we went. It was just there from the beginning. For me, it felt like I'd known him for a lifetime.

"But Harry is dreadful as a father. Imagine your dad trying to steal your girlfriend. He's a nightmare." Matthew, who is engaged, isn't without a screen love for long, however, as Dan sets his sights on Weatherfield bad girl Leanne Battersby, played by Jane Danson.

But first he has to see off Paul Clayton (Tom Hudson) who also has designs on the former call girl-turned-restaurant owner, though it's not much of a competition.

As he talks, Matthew is still blushing having just come off a steamy shoot with Jane when Dan and Leanne eventually get together.

He grinned: "The scenes today were quite fullon, passion wise, and it's very weird when you don't really know the person well. It's nervewracking but fortunately, Jane is very down-toearth and non-diva like.

"It was good to do because it gives us a lot more chemistry as characters. When Dan first came to the Street he'd go after anything in a skirt. But when Leanne clicks with him, he's just made up - even though she's a bit of psychopath.

"There's a bit of a triangle with Paul but having already humiliated him in his underpants, Dan doesn't see him as much of a threat."

But while Dan is merciless, Matthew is more sympathetic and he reckons it's down to his time spent pounding the beat at Sun Hill.

He laughed: "Every time Dan does something dodgy I find myself being disappointed in him.

When Paul ripped off Jack Duckworth, Dan took a slice of the money and I felt really let down by him.

"But the great thing about Dan is you can go in any direction with him.

"He's got a sensitive side and he's got a nasty streak too but I don't think he's an out-andout villain."

I can see Dan and Leanne getting up to great mischief ..like Corrie's own Bonnie and Clyde