Hayley Cropper unmoved as Roy pleads with her to ditch suicide plan... as Julie Hesmondhalgh says goodbye to Coronation Street
By SARAH BULL
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A tearful Roy Cropper (David Neilson) is stunned into silence as he realises the end is nigh for his beloved wife Hayley who is dying from pancreatic cancer.
Hayley (Julie Hesmondhalgh) is seen in her final scenes, ahead of her dramatic exit from the soap in the scene that Coronation Street fans have been dreading for months, before Hayley takes her own life.
Viewers will see Hayley take a cocktail of drugs before dying in the arms of her weeping husband Roy, who was opposed to the decision ever since Hayley first mentioned it.
The end is near: Hayley and Roy Cropper in Coronation Street seen in thefinal episode as she says goodbye to her beloved husband
Poignant moments: Julie revealed a short clip of the final moments on BBC Breakfast today
Neilson revealed the struggle his character has had with Hayley’s decision to take her own life.
He told The Mirror: 'Roy is immensely loyal to her, but he has told a lie in saying he will support her wholeheartedly.
'He is not supporting her, he doesn’t agree with it. To him it is a very selfish act. I think Roy feels that he is absolutely on his own.'
Determined not to implicate Roy, she has planned everything. His last-minute pleas for her to change her mind fail. And David says Roy is so tormented by what she does he feels like he has fallen out of love with her.
Don't get involved: Hayley warns Roy not to touch the glass with the drug cocktail or do anything to incriminate himself
The final moments: Julie Hesmondhalgh's character Hayley Cropper will be seen saying an emotional goodbye to husband Roy as she takes her own life in Coronation Street
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He said: 'He feels betrayed. He feels anger, confusion and maybe even doubts about the basis of their relationship.
'The cancer is a horrible thing, but the fact that she takes herself away from him before time, is something he really can’t understand.'
Doing her utmost not to implicate Roy in her assisted suicide, Hayley insists that he should not touch the glass of drugs that she mixes herself.
Hayley is seen telling Roy as she draws her last breath: 'I’m so sorry I have to go. I love you.'
Despite the emotional nature of the scenes, Julie said she was determined to make the scenes as 'unbeautiful' as possible, in order to relay the brutal nature of Hayley's decision.
She told the Radio Times: 'We wanted to make it as unbeautiful as we could. It has to be awkward and difficult between Hayley and Roy because he doesn’t agree with her decision.
'And those feelings are there right until the end. She almost railroads him into it because it’s becoming too painful. I thought that came across strongly – she’s driving the bus and he can’t get off.'
Saying her goodbyes: Hayley askes Roy to ask Fiz, Tyrone and the rest of the family to come to the cafe so she can say her goodbyes - although her friends and family are oblivious to the reason they've been called
Bidding her farewell: Hayley says her goodbye to Fiz
Julie filmed the scene in one take with David Neilson who plays Roy and said she was 'shocked' at how upsetting it was to watch it again.
The actress said: 'It didn't seem like I was watching anything to do with me at all, it was just these two characters that I really loved and seeing the end of their love story, oh yeah there were tears. My husband was absolutely devastated.'
She said: 'The way it had been directed was very carefully done. There was an almost holy atmosphere on set and we only did one take.
'Kay Patrick, the director, made sure that everything was in place before we went for it so we weren't having to keep doing it over and over which is why it's quite raw I think.'
And Coronation Street producer Stuart Blackburn added that there was an incredible amount of pressure to get the storyline right.
Viewer favourites: Hayley and Roy are one of the most beloved soap couples of all time
He said: 'The story has been about love, loyalty, fear, courage, family, dignity and choice. It’s a love story and all the more precious for its soap rarity. It hasn’t been about lies, catfights or betrayals.
'We know we’ve got a huge responsibility to get it right. I think we’ve got it right.'
Julie, who joined Coronation Street in 1998 to play the soap’s first transsexual, won the hearts of viewers with her on-screen romance with cafe owner Roy.
Away from the screen, she is married to writer and actor Ian Kershaw, taking time off in 2001 to give birth to her daughter Martha Mo.
She has now decided to leave for good to concentrate on theatre roles.
Julie's final moments as Hayley in Coronation Street will be aired on Monday 20th January on ITV.
Happy days: Julie will concentrate on theatre work after leaving Coronation Street
Moving on: Julie seen today at the BBC ahead of the airing of her final scenes in the ITV soap
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2542763/Im-sorry-I-I-love-Cancer-sufferer-Hayley-Croppers-final-words-husband-Roy-takes-life-Coronation-Street.html#ixzz2qyJbRPnW
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