Corrie’s Lou actress looks unrecognisable in ITV soap six years before new role
Farrel Hegarty, who plays Lou Michael on Coronation Street, has opened up on her character's upcoming exit from the cobbles, and has also revealed that she was on the soap before
Corrie enthusiasts might be gobsmacked to learn that Lou Michaelis portrayer, Farrel Hegarty, isn’t a newbie to the ITV soap, having graced the cobbles before her current gig.
The actress has revealed her impending departure from Weatherfield and hinted at what’s in store for her character. But she also talked about another role she played on the show about half a decade ago, which might have slipped the minds of viewers.
Lou isn’t Farrel’s first rodeo on the soap scene, nor was it her inaugural visit to the Street. In 2019, she took on a guest part on Corrie.
She stepped into the shoes of a journalist who descended upon the street following a harrowing Christmas shooting. The crisis left Robert Preston and the shooter dead, with Shona Platt clinging to life, throwing the residents into chaos.
Coronation Street’s Lou Michaelis actress Farrel Hegarty has spilled all on a past stint she had on the show(Image: ITV)
Farrel’s character, armed with a camera crew, swooped onto the cobbles to broadcast outside The Rovers, where Robert met his end. She pounced on his bereaved partner Michelle Connor and her sons Ryan and Ali, desperate for the lowdown on the previous night’s deadly events, reports the Mirror.
Chatting about the stint, Farrel revealed to The Mirror and other media outlets: “I played a reporter in 2019. Which I think someone dug up an image. I saw something that popped up and I thought: ‘Oh, there I am!’ It was in the Boxing Day episode of 2019. I think it was just ‘reporter 1’!”
However, Farrel disclosed that she had an earlier encounter with the famous cobbled street when she was just a five year old. She fondly recalled meeting Corrie icon Barbara Knox, who plays Rita, saying: “I got a picture of me and her when I was like five, when I came to the Corrie tour.”
Fans of Coronation Street may be surprised to know that Lou Michaelis actress Farrel Hegarty had actually been on the ITV soap before her latest role(Image: ITV)
Farrel is set to bid farewell to her character Lou soon, knowing from the outset that her stint on the cobbles would be brief. Explaining why she accepted the short-term role, she said: “I just think she really appealed to me because she’s the sort of person who’s never had it easy.
“She’s developed a lot of coping mechanisms, presenting a tough and feisty exterior, and all she’s ever known is these fiery relationships. And probably fiery relationships with a lot of people in her life, which is what makes a character like that so interesting.
“Because she’s a force and irrational. I read scripts and I go: ‘Oh God! What’s she doing now? What’s she saying now?’ Because it’s not a way that I would behave, and because of that, it’s so much fun to play. It’s that desperation to protect that inner circle and because of that, she makes a mess of things. But a character like that is so fun to play, because there’s never a dull moment.”
Back in 2019, Farrel played another character, a guest role, on the ITV soap(Image: ITV)
Reflecting on her role as Lou, she added: “It’s great to play that character. I’m so lucky to play a role like this. To be honest, I tend not to get cast as shrinking violets if I’m honest! I must have one of those faces! But she’s brilliant to play.
“Some of her behaviour really makes me wince sometimes because I think she can be quite hot-headed, irrational and she speaks before she thinks and she protects her own, which gets her into trouble.
