Jack James Ryan has spoken about 'cancel culture' after his Coronation Street character was forced to redeem himself. The actor, who stars as Jacob Hay, made his debut in the ITV soap in 2020 but left after a short stint.
His brief first appearance saw Jacob grooming an impressionable Simon Barlow to join a drug gang, which viewers now know was being run by his uncle Harvey Gaskell. After crossing the drug lord, played by Will Mellor, Jacob disappeared before returning to Weatherfield in 2021.
The character returned as the new boyfriend of Amy Barlow, much to the dismay of her family and Leanne Battersby - who became an informant for the police in order to help Simon out of the mess he had gotten himself into.
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But since his Weatherfield return, Jacob has turned his life, and opinions around, after getting into a relationship with Amy Barlow. However, this looks set to change following the arrival of Damon, Jaco's dad, who has come looking for his son in a bid to reconnect - or so he says.
Damon, played by Ciarán Griffiths, showed up on the street to meet with his son, saying he wanted to make things right. However, having started a new life away from his former crimes, Jacob rejected him. After a chat with Amy, Jacob had a change of heart and Damon has since been giving him money and got him a new job at the Bistro.
However, in scenes to air next week, viewers will see Jacob left suspicious when Damon tells him that Dan’s first delivery is due this afternoon and hidden in the crate of olive oil will be a package containing drugs. Expecting the first drugs delivery Jacob is stressed when a party of police officers arrive for a retirement do with their sniffer dog in tow.
When a crate of olive oil is delivered, Jacob manages to get the package out and leaves the Bistro. But when the sniffer dog barks at the crate, Craig heads for Jacob's flat. Back In the bistro, Leanne and Ryan check through the rest of the delivery boxes wondering what on earth set the dog barking.
Later, after the near-miss with the police, Damon gives Jacob a beating and tells him that if he wants to protect his girlfriend Amy, he needs to disappear for good. Jacob tells Nick how Damon is smuggling drugs through the restaurant and he has no choice but to leave as Amy’s life is in danger. And in a bid to make it easier, Jacob pretends to be back dealing again and is caught by Amy.
Asked how he felt about filming Jacob's new storyline, and if he was sad to see Jacob taking the blame after turning his life around, Jack said: "It’s really sad, Jacob is like my baby brother, I’ve put my heart and soul into the character. After initially joining for just three months, I’ve then been able to build the character, making him live and breathe and be relatable.
"I think what I really like about Jacob is he’s a character that’s been able to show the younger generation that you can make mistakes, and yeah Jacob’s made some pretty big ones, but he’s been able to turn his life around. It can feel with cancel culture at the moment that you make one mistake and you’re done but I think it's really important to show that you can make mistakes but if you really want to try and turn your life around then you can do that."
He added: "I've been so proud to tell that story with Jacob and I hope the audience can see him as sort of a troubled hero, he’s doing the things he does to keep people safe."
But while his exit appears to be sealed, Jack would like Jacob to clear his name. He commented: "Jacob absolutely adores Amy and this is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do in his life but when you love someone so deeply, sometimes what you have to do is let them go.
"Jacob will not risk Amy getting hurt or anything bad happening to the Barlows, even Nick and Leanne, Jacob has got to a place where he has a lot of respect for them even if they haven’t for him and he doesn’t want to be the reason that anybody gets hurt."
And Jack added that the relationship he and co-star Elle Mulvaney have built up on-screen between their characters also extends off-screen. "The viewers have really embraced them, when we started we had no idea what they would think of them together, obviously Amy Barlow is one of the nation's sweethearts so I was kind of nervous, I wanted it to work so badly," he confessed.
"Me and Elle are now best friends but I think from very early on we really wanted this, every time we came onto set we were like right what can we do, we were both bringing ideas, throwing different things in the hat, we were constantly working with the directors and the writers to really make this relationship tangible, authentic and to feel real. I hope we’ve got there, it was a bit of a whirlwind but I do think that their relationship resonates with people."
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