Former Coronation Street actor Bruno Langley is enjoying one particular aspect of his new found anonymity – he can buy toilet paper in peace.

The actor is a familiar face from his four years on the Street when he played Todd Grimshaw – the soap's first gay character in its 40-year history.

But, being beamed into millions of homes, he found the pressures of fame sometimes a little wearing.

"When people see you and you are in their living rooms several nights a week, they feel like they own a piece of you," says Langley.

"It means people feel like they can come up to you and you owe it to them to stop and a have a chat. Sometimes I didn't mind it, but sometimes I didn't feel like it. It's nice not to have that pressure all the time, it means I can go out and buy toilet rolls without having to stop and chat to someone."

Langley became a household name in 2001 when he joined the soap opera as the new occupant of number 11 Coronation Street with his mum Eileen and half-brother Jason.

After becoming involved with teenage mum Sarah Platt, Langley's character Bruno took a central part in one of the soap's most successful storylines of recent years.

In October 2003, his character made a pass at another male character – Sarah's brother Nick – after battling with his confused sexuality and coming out as gay.

Shortly after, he left the soap and the 22-year-old has spent the past couple of years working on cementing his career as a stage actor.

"I made a conscious decision after I left to do more theatre work," says Langley.

"I had spent four years on telly and I spoke to my manager and asked him if he would look for roles in theatre."

Since leaving the show, he has played Romeo in an open-air production of Romeo and Juliet, appeared in the movie The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and two episodes of the new Doctor Who.

Next week, the former soap actor will be treading the boards at Sheffield's Lyceum Theatre at the start of a three-month national tour of the award-winning play A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the soap star taking on the play is that he will be playing an openly gay man.

After spending time as the country's most well-known homosexual character, is he not concerned about being pigeonholed?

"I was quite young back then (when he was told his Coronation Street character was going to come out) and when I was first told about it, it was a bit of a shock," he says.

"I weighed it up and decided that at the end of the day, I was an actor and as an actor it was a great thing to get the chance to do.

"So when I was offered this part I was totally aware of the fact that if I played another gay character I might get put in a pigeonhole, but I talked to other actor friends and they say that they have played a few gay roles, but that doesn't mean that's all they get offered. I just have to make sure casting directors realise I'm an actor and I can act a part."

A Taste of Honey was first produced in 1958 and is a gritty tale of life in Manchester which took the theatre world by storm when it was first produced.

The play tells the relationship between Jo, a young working- class girl and her boozy, irresponsible mother. Pregnant and abandoned, Jo seeks comfort with a sexually confused young man and they move in together like two children playing house, for a while finding an innocent but fragile happiness.

Langley says: "The drama comes from the relationship between my character and the mother - we are both mothers to Jo and that's where the conflict comes in."

So, with the comforts of television acting taken away, is Langley glad he decided to leave Corrie?

"I do miss the atmosphere of being on set," he says.

"Also, on the show you get people around you looking after your press and that kind of thing, which I don't have now. I do see some people who left the show who understand what it's like, so it's nice to talk to them. Georgia Taylor, who played Toyah, lives near me – I suppose there is an old Coronation Street network!"

A Taste of Honey is at Sheffield Crucible, May 16 to 20.

© The Yorkshire Post, 9/5/06

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