Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) has certainly made an impact since he arrived in Coronation Street. The little brother of Street stalwarts Kevin and Debbie Webster (Michael Le Vell and Sue Devaney) was first seen during an altercation with Abi (Sally Carman) in the Freshco car park – and flirtatious behaviour immediately ensued.
Since Abi discovered that Carl is her brother-in-law she’s tried to put a distance between them, but it’s clear that Carl is intent on pursuing her even though she’s married to his brother – who is undergoing treatment for cancer.
‘He wants what he wants, he’s impulsive and he wants to feel good, whoever that is with,’ Jonathan Howard told us. ‘Whether it’s through alcohol or women or anything, I think he’s there to enjoy himself to the maximum of human experience. He’s massively attracted to Abi so he’s going to go for that, all guns blazing.’
Jonathan said he felt that Carl justified this behaviour to himself because he felt some resentment towards his brother.
‘We have to remember there’s 20 years difference between these brothers. When I was a wee little baby, Kevin was in his 20s, he was on the cobbles starting his life and having his business and starting his family.
‘I did feel a little resentment of being left behind in some ways. He’s not been as present in Carl’s life growing up like Debbie was, for example. So I think there’s a feeling of not really owing him too much.
‘He’s my brother, on paper, and I love him as a brother, but he’s not been a brother who’s been a part of my daily life. He’s never been to Germany to visit me. I think that’s slight justification for why he doesn’t put Kevin at the forefront of every decision he’s making.’
Jonathan finds that Carl’s moral ambiguity makes him a very interesting character to play and we’ll discover a lot more about him as time goes on.
‘We’ve got some really nice surprises from a storytelling point of view which really highlight the characteristics of Carl, of being unexpected, impulsive, surprising. He’s really fun – there’s no rule book for what I’m doing with Carl right now. We’ll find out why he’ left Germany. Stuff hasn’t gone quite to plan, I’ve got myself in trouble over there and I’ve come over here as a way to escape that.
‘Obviously it’s to see my brother and help him through his cancer, but I’m also running away from something. I think he’s the type of person who’s going to take anything he can get. He wants the maximum experience out of life, but when things go awry I don’t think he’s one to stick around necessarily.’
While Jonathan stated that you never know what’s coming up next for Carl, one thing he will rule out is the notion that Carl could become the next killer on the cobbles.
‘I don’t think he’s a sociopath, I don’t think he’s going to be murdering anyone,’ he said. ‘I think he’s going to be a little dodgy, a little wheeler-dealer. He’s out to make a name for himself, he wants power and money and success.
‘He wants to follow through with his impulses and when he’s attracted to someone he’s going to go for that person, no questions asked. I do like leaning into the dodgy side or the unlawful side of society. That is really fun to play.’
