Coronation Street star Jimmi Harkishin has revealed what’s in store for his character Dev Alahan after learning that his daughter Asha had attempted to take her own life. In a harrowing storyline set to air next week, Dev will visit Asha in the hospital after learning that she’d turned to alcohol and drugs.
Asha, who has been struggling with the trauma of her job as a paramedic, which saw her subjected to horrific racist abuse, will continue to deal with depression.
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Speaking about Dev’s heartbreak over the situation, Harkishin said: “He gets a call from Amy, and suddenly his whole world turns upside down, and that’s when he starts going into denial mode, and says, ‘No, this is going to be fine.’ I remember the emotion being that he just does not want to face that. He doesn’t want to hear that word.”
Reflecting on Dev’s emotional state, the actor mused: “Dev goes and takes out all his frustrations, his anger, his self-doubt and recriminations with Bernie. But when he goes back to the hospital, he’s very, very gentle with his daughter, caring and apologetic, and then he walks out there, and then he’s angry and he’s crying, and then he goes back to the hospital, and his daughter never sees any of that. There’s a massive mask that just keeps slipping as soon as he leaves her.”
Commending his co-star Tanisha Gorey on her performance as Asha, Harkishin added: “She’s incredible, really. Instinctively, what she’s done is just wonderful, and I always feel really safe with her.
“I think she’s amazing. I don’t know how she’s learnt it, maybe by osmosis or by just being on Coronation Street for as long as she has done, just soaking up all the influences. But she’s very, very, very capable.
“She’s very confident. And she just feels like my daughter, it doesn’t feel like it’s an actress playing my daughter. She just feels a part of the family.”
Gorey has also spoken about Asha’s ongoing storyline. Noting that in the next few weeks, fans will see Asha begin her recovery, the actor said: “In hospital, [Asha] tells Dev that it all became too much and she took the booze and pills with the intention of killing herself. She tells him that she’s glad it didn’t work.
“But she’s not in the clear, and when she comes home, we see her still suffering from depression. I think that’s important – to show it’s not always a quick fix. For people who are struggling, it shows it’s okay to ask for help again.”
