Coronation Street Marc Bayliss dishes on ‘desperate’ Rob Donovan’s ‘life-changing’ siege

Coronation Street fans are transfixed by the latest storyline that sees factory owner Carla Connor’s murdering brother Rob Donovan on the run after turning a seemingly altruistic kidney donation into a jail break drama.

Yet, despite grabbing headlines with his compelling performance as Carla’s twisted sibling, actor Marc Baylis says his family would be far more excited if he was in rival soap EastEnders.

“I don’t come from a family of Corrie viewers,” he confesses to The Mirror. “My mum watched EastEnders, to be honest!

“And they’re used to me being on TV now. They’ve gone through the whole journey with me, so it’s nothing new to them.” If they don’t watch in the coming week, they will be missing out.

Viewers will see Rob prowling the cobbles, armed and dangerous as, in dramatic scenes, he takes Tracy Barlow and Carla hostage. Surely his mum won’t miss this?

Rob is seen lying motionless at the bottom of an office block stairwell

“She dips in and out,” Marc, 46, smiles, diplomatically. “They (his family) don’t watch a lot of television, that’s not them. They prefer reading and socialising with friends.”

Marc, 46, had been working hard as a jobbing actor for 12 years when the life-changing role of Rob came along. Prior to that, he had taken on a host of other work, including labouring on building sites and pulling pints in order to make ends meet.

“Up until Corrie I had to do various other jobs – I’d put my hand to anything really as I was grafting it out,” he remembers. “I’ve been on building sites, worked in pubs and in sales and marketing – I did pretty much everything under the sun when I was fighting to establish myself. It’s just a case of keeping your head above water.

“But that’s the nature of the beast. My family have always been very supportive and, luckily, I enjoy variety. And you pick up skills along the way – anything you learn on your journey you can apply into your acting work as well.

“And, of course, if you’ve done other jobs, it makes you appreciate the roles more when you get them. You become a much more rounded person, far more grounded and far more respectful as well.”

Marc was 35 when he first arrived on the cobbles in 2012 as troubled Rob, the brother of factory boss Carla Connor. But he admits there were many times before that when he considered abandoning his dream.

“I thought of giving up on acting loads of time,” he admits. “It’s not an easy industry, it’s never been an easy industry and it never will be an easy industry. The struggles are part of the journey.

“I once went a couple of years without an acting job, but I had ambition, so you persevere, you dig deep, you come through all of those times and it makes you stronger – it gives you an armour and a better understanding of yourself as well. If anything comes too easy to anyone in life, maybe they won’t respect it as much.”

Marc initially spent two and a half years in the show, leaving in 2014, when his character was jailed for life for the horrific murder of much-loved barmaid Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan).

Tracy is the ‘love of Rob’s life’ says Marc(Image: ITV)

The role made him an overnight star and saw him nominated for a host of awards, including Best Newcomer, Best Actor, Best Bad Boy (which he won) and the famous Sexiest Male in Soap.

“There is an element of fun with that award,” he smiles. “There’s a whole calendar of events and ceremonies that come as part and parcel of the show, so I absolutely took that side of things with a pinch of salt. For me, it was more about doing a good job and telling a story than anything else.”

Marc returned to the cobbles earlier this year, when Rob was persuaded by his son Bobby (Jack Carroll) to donate a kidney to sister Carla (Alison King). He agreed, but cynically, only in order to facilitate his escape from prison. Now on the loose he returns to the cobbles in dramatic fashion, popping up in the ginnel, where he begs his old love Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) for help.

“He’s very unwell,” Marc says. “He gave Carla a kidney, but he’s not had the medical care he needs and he’s got sepsis. He’s literally within days of dying. Tracy was the love of his life and there are some lovely tender moments between them, but he’s a desperate man.”

Rob goes on the run, despite needing medical treatment(Image: ITV)

Rob orders Tracy to fetch Carla and while he holds them both at gunpoint, police surround the building. When the gun goes off, one character ends up shot and suffering life-changing injuries.

Marc, who lives in Yorkshire with his wife Adele and their two children, said he was thrilled to be asked to revive the role and show the effect that prison life has had on Rob.

“He’s a multi-faceted character,” he explains. “He’s a middle aged man whose life hasn’t gone on the trajectory he thought it would. He’s very troubled; he’s dark and ruthless. He’s not evil, there is good in him and he’s got a fantastic sense of humour, but being inside prison is eating him alive.”

Marc grew up in Worcestershire where his parents ran a shop. A keen footballer, he started drama at school at 15 after an injury prevented him playing sport.

After that, he trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, graduating in 2000. Initially, he worked in theatre, making his TV debut playing a young Albert Finney in My Uncle Silas in 2001.

During his 25 years as an actor, he has had roles in numerous TV shows, including Doctors, Law & Order: UK and the TV police drama London Kills, which saw him working alongside Hugo Speer and Sharon Small.

And three years before his cobbles debut, Marc even landed a role in his mum’s favourite soap, playing an unnamed carouser in the EastEnders’ New Year’s Day episode in 2009.

“It was a bit blink and miss, so I don’t know if my mum watched or not, but it was good fun,” Marc recalls. “I had a few days filming playing a drunken reveller who passed out in the Queen Vic. I was in scenes with Barbara Windsor and Samantha Womack.”

Later this year he will appear alongside Frances Barber in the third series of the crime drama Whitstable Pearl. Marc, who’s also been in films including Off Grid with Alison Steadman and Strippers vs Werewolves with Martin Compston, will be in the soon-to-be-released sci-fi thriller Of Infinite Worlds, says: “I’d like to continue trying to make films, I’d love to get a nice drama under my belt and at some point, I will go back to theatre. I have loads of outstanding ambitions, I would have quit if I hadn’t!”

Unlike his character, away from work Marc enjoys a quiet life – gardening, playing the guitar and supporting Aston Villa football club. “It’s pretty low-key, run-of-the-mill stuff really,” he says.

And even Marc was taken by surprise when, during his years away from Corrie, he discovered that his alter ego Rob Donovan was the dad of a grown-up son!

He laughs: “I was actually in a shop and I saw it on the front cover of a magazine as I was walking past.

“But I suppose in shows like Coronation Street nothing should come as a surprise!”