Corrie's Sam Roberton has admitted he's thought about 'hanging up his suit' as solicitor Adam Barlow.
The Coronation Street star says his dramatic Fatal Attraction-style storyline, which has seen his character stalked by his ex Lydia Chambers, has left him feeling the need to 'recalibrate' after six years of playing Adam on the cobbles.
And the 36-year-old star told the Manchester Evening News and other press that he's currently feeling 'confused' as an actor.
READ MORE: Lesbian couple forced to move after neighbour hounded them with sickening abuse
Asked if he would like to see Adam stay with his wife Sarah, played by Tina O'Brien, after their marriage has been rocked by the arrival of Lydia, played by Rebecca Ryan, he said: "I don't know about that. I don't know."
He explained: "I think one thing that I've enjoyed about working with Rebecca so much is it's been a bit different really.
"I think sometimes familiarity breeds contempt. Sometimes you pick up a script and it's like 'I feel like it's doing the same scene I did 12 months ago.'
"Then you think 'is it me, is it the characters or is it the other actors?'"
Sam, who previously played Adam the son of Ken Barlow’s late daughter Susan and his late arch-enemy Mike Baldwin in 2004 and came back in 2016 Following Ken’s stroke, said he's sought the opinions of Weatherfield legends David Neilson, who plays Roy Cropper, and Jimmi Harkishin, who plays Dev Alahan.
"I speak to a lot of the guys here that have been working here for 20, 15 years like David Neilson and Jimmi Harkishin - I had a scene with him today.
"And I'm like 'do you ever have those moments in which you think 'I could do with maybe hanging this character's suit up on the coat hanger for a little bit?'
"And they're like 'oh yeah it happens' because I think as an actor you're used to working on different characters."
He continued: "I've not played another character in over six years in my career now.
"I feel like at the minute coming through this really big storyline I definitely feel I need to recalibrate a bit and find out what this character is all about.
"I feel this storyline the confusion Adam is feeling I'm kind of feeling the same confusion myself as an actor in terms of who is this character I'm playing now, it's very different from what it was six months ago or 12 months."
Sam added: "Whether it's a moment in time and things start falling back into place and are much more relaxed that might be the case."
When suave former ladies' man Adam had a relationship with Lydia at university, he had no idea of the impact he had on her life.
And fans are gripped wondering why she's out to wreak vengeance after befriending Sarah.
She started out making silent calls, smashed his car windscreen, called in armed police to his office with an anonymous tip-off and now she's set him up to make it appear that they've been having an affair.
"He doesn't remember a lot about her, at first one of Sarah's new friends at work but becomes a lot more serious," he said.
"We've just shot some scenes last week where Lydia explains to Adam why she's been doing all this and that's the firsy time Adam really grasps the reasons and he accepts the reasons.
"But it takes a hell of a long time for that to unravel."
Adam starts to fear for his safety as his past behaviour comes back to haunt him.
"He thought he'd escaped his past where he didn't really treat women with the greatest of respect. It's really coming back to affect his present life," said Sam.
"He's a very changed man so he's feeling a bit aggrieved that the past is never going to leave him and he's also scared the present is going to be badly wounded by that.
"It's a combination of feeling unsafe but also 'am I losing my marbles?'"
Sam says he was concerned to embark on the Lydia storyline so soon after Adam rebuilt his relationship with Sarah following his fling with her boss Carla Connor.
"At first I was a little bit troubled by it becaise we did a storyline the year before when Adam had a fling with Carla and there was a lot of trouble with Adam and Sarah's marriage then," he said.
"I felt personally 'oh so soon after that can we do another story where Adam and Sarah are having trouble again?"
He explained: "Tina and I have gone from working together having fun and having a lot of harmony with the material and then suddenly we're at each other's throats all time so it's been really tough to do that again.
"At first I was like 'this is going to be tough, walking on the set and arguing.
"It's a challenging day on set more than when they're in love."
He added: "In the end it will be worth it but when I was told about it I was a little bit troubled by it I'm not going to lie."
Asked if he thinks Adam and Sarah's marriage can survive he admitted: "I don't know.
"It's a conversation that I would like to have with the writers, Tina, and Iain the producer.
"You literally don't know what's around the corner.
"I've only got 10 episodes ahead of me in my head so I don't know if it will be the end of Adam and Sarah."
