The Street
Vincent Regan plays Charlie
Vincent Regan was hooked the moment he read the script for The Street. In his episode of Jimmy McGovern's BAFTA and RTS-winning series, the actor plays Charlie.
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He is a demolition man who is married with teenage kids. Much to his consternation, he finds himself sexually attracted to a fellow worker, Tom (Will Mellor). Charlie is thrown into turmoil and forced to deceive his wife as he tries to work out his sexuality.
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Forty-two-year-old Vincent, who has headlined notable 91Èȱ¬ productions such as Murphy's Law, Hustle, Rescue Me, Rebel Heart, and Eureka Street, explains that:
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"The moment I read The Street, I was desperate to do it. A lot of scripts have some interesting ideas, but in this one everything fitted so perfectly. There were absolutely no holes in it. It's not every day that you read a script as good as this. The ease with which Jimmy McGovern creates believable characters and situations is truly remarkable."
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The actor, who has also appeared in the Hollywood movies 300 and Troy, goes on to describe his character: "Charlie is the quintessential Manchester working man. He's a hard-working, good family man. He seems like a classic working-class hero.
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"But of course, there is another side to him. He has buried so many issues very deeply. Because he comes from a working-class background, they have become hidden. So when he has this liaison with Tom, it throws him completely – his whole world is turned upside down."
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Vincent expands on the difficulties facing Charlie: "It's an utterly believable situation because he simply can't come out. As he says at one point, 'no one's gay around here.' There is no way he can redesign his life, the social parameters won't allow it.
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"The moment his repressed homosexuality flares up, he knows he has to quash it. He becomes far more acutely aware of his sexuality, he finds himself staring at men more. But he realises he can do nothing about his feelings. It's great to act out all this inner conflict it's very liberating!"
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The actor, who has also had roles in dramas such as Marple, Lewis, Wild At Heart and Low Winter Sun, carries on that:
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"Jimmy's scripts are always so plausible. Even if they appear far-fetched, they are actually spot-on because truth is stranger than fiction. Instead of confronting a problem head-on, his characters always try to avoid it but end up digging a much deeper hole.
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"All the episodes in The Street follow the same basic form – a character does one thing and spends the rest of the time trying to cope with the consequences for good or ill. So after Charlie has been with Tom, he wrestles with this dilemma about his sexuality and desperately tries to work out what to tell his wife."
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Vincent reveals that he and Will Mellor got on very well, but admits that:
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"Our love scenes were slightly embarrassing after all, in real life we're two blue-collar heterosexuals! The funny thing is, while I was doing my scene with Will, my wife [the actress Amelia Curtis] was doing a lesbian scene at the other end of the country in Love Soup. What are the odds of that happening? A few trillion to one!"
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