Charlie Lawson has said he does not believe his Coronation Street character Jim McDonald will ever return to the cobbles because the show is now 'too woke'. The 65-year-old actor played the tough-talking character from 1989 for 11 years, returning on several occasions, but thinks the soap has changed too much since his last appearance in 2018.
Lawson told media: 'It wouldn't shock me if he dies in Australia. I think it would be a terrible waste of a character, and I would stand up and have a pint and salute to him. But I wouldn't be broken-hearted because I've been back seven or eight times.' He added: 'The whole world has changed since then into a crazy woke sort of... it's all changed. I'm not quite sure how Jim would react to 24 genders in Weatherfield.'
The actor also criticised the treatment of former co-star Bruce Jones, whose character Les Battersby was killed off via email. Lawson called the decision 'cheap and cowardly' and said: 'An email is cheap and cowardly in my opinion. I think somebody has made an error.'
Lawson's autobiography 'That's Life, So It Is' is due for release next week, in which he discusses his career and secrets from the Coronation Street set. He revealed he chose to leave the show in 1999 after feeling the writers were struggling with his character, saying: 'I said to Jane [Macnaught], if I stay here, you're gonna kill the character.'
