Coronation Street’s Roy star unrecognisable with white beard and glasses in new snap

David Neilson has played Coronation Street legend Roy Cropper since 1995, and with his character behind bars for the murder of Lauren Gordon, he’s looking back on his long career

In a behind-the-scenes photo, Coronation Street icon David Neilson appeared unrecognizable with glasses and a white beard.

The actor, who has been portraying Roy Cropper, the proprietor of a café, since 1995, stunned the crowd by posing on set with soap opera expert Sharon Marshall at the apartment that his character had shared with wife Hayley. David was standing next to the This Morning star, his short white beard teasing his chin. He was wearing purple glasses.

David looked a far cry from Roy in a black cord jacket with a mint green shirt underneath, adding a pair of black jeans to his ensemble while Sharon rocked a Free Roy Cropper t-shirt in reference to David’s current storyline on the soap. His character has been imprisoned for the murder of missing teen Lauren Gordon.

Between them, the pair held a red book with the title: “This is your soap life” across the front, with Sharon writing on X: “A pinch-me working moment tomorrow for the next in our Soap Legends series, David Neilson talks nearly 30 years of playing @itvcorrie’s Roy.

“He’ll talk about the origins and development of Cropper and how this story plays cleverly into his past. 11.15 @ThisMorning #FreeRoy.” She later quipped Roy has been “busted out of his cell for one night”, explaining the picture was taken “in his actual room which still has the elephant he won at the funfair with Hayley”.

David’s character Roy was a lot different during his first ever soap appearance. He actually has a very dark past, with David describing him as a “psychopath” during his initial storyline, which involved stalking Deirdre Barlow. He said: “Roy was a psychopath. He was stalking Deirdre and was a bit scary. It’s nice to play psychos but they don’t stay around too long.”

The star confessed of his recent soap plot: “What I like about this storyline is the way it has gone back 29 years to 1995 when Roy first arrived. It is reminiscent of that early Roy Cropper when people were suspicious of his behaviour and thought he was creepy. And all this history will be used against him, things that have happened in the past like abducting their foster child. All that makes this storyline interesting to play and to watch it unfold.”

David went on: “Roy is innocent in every respect, he is innocent of the crime, but he is also an innocent soul. He never thought for one minute it would come to this, he truly felt that if he simply answered everything honestly it would all be okay and he was naïve to assume that being innocent meant that he would be seen to be innocent.”

But some fans have suggested Roy could be hiding a dark secret – that he’s actually killed Lauren after firing her from Roy’s Rolls. One suggested: “Maybe Roy did do it tho. Maybe he came back to find Lauren rifling through his coin purse and a scuffle ensued.” As someone else said: “Part of me hopes Roy did Lauren in… give him a bit of a bad boy edge after all these years.”

Roy has been involved in some of the biggest Corrie storylines of all time, including the introduction of the soap’s first main trans character, Hayley Cropper. He was also around for the shocking tram crash, and his character helped Hayley end her own life when battling terminal cancer.