A slice of Coronation Street visits the Arden

A rare privilege for an interviewer is getting to know actors in a personal way that separates them from their characters.

Take Ian Puleston-Davies, 56, best known to Coronation Street fans as builder Owen Armstrong, a selfish, quick-with-his-fists man with a temper he never learned to control.

The British actor along with best friend Mikey North known to Corrie fans as Gary Windass are on the western Canadian Coronation Street ‘Gary and Owen’ Men at Work Tour.

They stop by the Arden Theatre on June 15 for an interview style, no-holds barred talk show revealing behind-the-scenes scoops. In the first set, actor Linda Barnard conducts a 75-minute interview followed by an intermission and Q & A.

Puleston-Davies, a father of two – both under the age of eight – lives in Chester just a stone’s throw from Manchester. He’s been on Coronation Street for five years and just this spring retired from the role to pursue other projects.

Growing up on a Welsh farm, he rode ponies as a child. One of his fantasies was to ride the prairies wearing a Stetson. Puleston-Davies asks about the Calgary Stampede and is disappointed to learn the cowboy hoopla is one month away.

“I come from a long line of farmers. But I had no interest. I had no genuine appreciation to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning to milk cows,” he says with a light chuckle.

But in school a drama teacher inspired him on a purely personal level rather than as a career. That was enough. Puleston-Davies graduated from theatre school in 1981 and has enjoyed a significant 30-year professional career in respected and award winning television, film, and theatrical dramas.

His entry into Coronation Street as the tough-talking alpha male was a signal to the public he had “arrived.” But after five years he tired of the complex character and needed a break.

“I felt I was getting stale and that is worrying. I wanted to see what else was out there.”

“Owen annoyed me. I found he was a bully, bad-tempered and belligerent. I was critical of him, but as an actor it made him interesting to play. He wasn’t bad, but he had an odd way of going about things.”

Puleston-Davies exited Corrie and headed straight to filming Beowulf in Newcastle near the Scottish border. The 13-part series cashes in on the Game of Thrones format with Kieran Bew in the title role, joined by the iconic William Hurt. In a more nefarious alpha male role, Puleston-Davies plays a villainous thane who rapes the Queen, played by Joanne Whalley.

“I’ve traded from being a builder on the cobbles for a sword, horse and wig,” he laughs.

No matter how many fresh projects come along, there will always be a special attachment to Corrie in large part because over the past five years Mikey North became his best friend.

“I did my first scene with him. His character goes out with my daughter. Mikey likes to tell these stupid jokes and in the beginning I didn’t find him funny. We were polite to each other, but I didn’t find him my type of mate. I didn’t think we had a future. How wrong I was. I was best man at his wedding.”

“I don’t know whether he grew on me like moss or I gave in to his stupid jokes. Maybe he tried harder to make me laugh.”

Although Puleston-Davies doesn’t want to make a big deal out it, he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and will speak briefly about it on Monday.

“I want to bring awareness and understanding to this disorder.”