Coronation Street star Emrhys Cooper says playing sinister guru Rowan has helped bring him closer to his father - after the actor's parents were once sucked into a bizarre wellness cult
Coronation Street star Emrhys Cooper has said playing sinister guru Rowan Cunliffe in the soap has helped bring him closer to his father Christopher.
The actor, 39, who made is debut on the cobbles earlier this year, previously revealed his new age parents were once embroiled in a similar cult.
Now Emrhys said when preparing for the role he asked his father for tips, and the pair spoke for the first time about that of their lives, during the actor's childhood.
Telling The Sun: 'This role has actually brought me and my dad closer. I have asked him question and I asked him advice, it's really great'.
'This role is particularly important to me because I hope to spread awareness about the dancers of these types of characters and organisations'.
Coronation Street star Emrhys Cooper, 39, has said playing sinister guru Rowan Cunliffe in the soap has helped bring him closer to his father Christopher
The actor, who made is debut on the cobbles earlier this year, previously revealed his new age parents were once embroiled in a similar cult (pictured with co-star Jane Danson)
Now Emrhys said when preparing for the role he asked his father for tips, and the pair spoke for the first time about that of their lives, during the actor's childhood (pictured with parents Christopher and Raphaela)
Before adding: 'My goal is to make it as truthful as possible'.
Emrhys grew up in Totnes with parents Christopher and Raphaela, new age hippies with an open-minded attitude regarding unconventional lifestyles.
But his family life was compromised - almost fatally - after his free thinking parents turned to a holistic doctor, who advised his ailing mother to avoid conventional medicines.
He told The Mirror: 'My mother had a prescription for high blood pressure and a holistic doctor basically told her that he could get her off the prescription with some herbal remedy, and she had a heart attack.'
Raphaela eventually suffered a severe stroke that left her paralysed, and Emrhys believes it could have been avoided had she resumed taking her regular blood pressure medication.
His parents had another bruising encounter with a London based group, but red flags emerged once they started asking the couple for money.
He said: 'It was actually kind of a wellness, fitness, more of a spiritual cult. And as they got further and further in, and gave more money, it became more sinister.'
Worse would follow when the group attempted to engage the bewildered couple in a series of bizarre sexual exercises.
The British star grew up in Totnes with parents Christopher and Raphaela, new age hippies with an open-minded attitude regarding unconventional lifestyles
But his family life was compromised - almost fatally - after his free thinking parents turned to a holistic doctor, who advised his ailing mother to avoid conventional medicines (pictured together)
'Basically, the cult tried to separate my parents by doing these rather sexual exercises with other people, which my Dad was a little alarmed by because he was having to grope this woman and my Mum was having to do this thing with someone else,' he said.
'So they kind of cottoned on that this exercise programme was not all it was cracked up to be.'
He added: 'They got out relatively unscathed. But they’ve been in and out of different kinds of things. They’re always looking for alternative options.
'And they are intelligent people, they’re just, unfortunately, very open-hearted and many times they’ve been taken advantage of.
