Hayley Cropper (also Patterson) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh. The character first appeared in the episode first broadcast on 26 January 1998. Hayley was the first transgender character in a British soap opera and was the first permanent transgender character in the world of serialised drama. She was married to Roy Cropper (David Neilson). After nearly ten years on the show, Hesmondhalgh decided to take another break for a year in order to spend more time with her family. She left on 22 October 2007 and returned on 17 November 2008.

Hesmondhalgh won numerous awards for her portrayal of Hayley, but announced her departure from the show on 11 January 2013. Her final scenes were filmed on 18 November 2013 and aired on 22 January 2014. In the episode, Hayley takes her own life, after living with terminal pancreatic cancer. Hesmondhalgh has insisted that it was a "right to die" storyline not 'an assisted suicide' storyline. Hayley's funeral aired on 31 January 2014.

Hesmondhalgh's portrayal of Hayley, and her on-screen chemistry with fellow actor David Neilson, encouraged the writers to allow the character to evolve from a brief love interest for Roy to a popular long-term character. Hayley would go on to spend 16 years on Coronation Street, always seeing the good in people and nurturing Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) from troubled young women to kind, caring, individuals. In her later years, Hayley formed an unlikely, yet notably close, friendship with Carla Connor (Alison King) and although it was obvious the pair were from completely different walks of life, they came to respect and care for each other.

Character creation

Casting

thumb|207x207px|[[Julie Hesmondhalgh (pictured) got her "dream job" as Hayley.]]

Initially, it was intended that Hayley would only appear for two months, it was thought that this would help increase ratings as well as show a new side to Roy Cropper (David Neilson). Actor Julie Hesmondhalgh first came to the attention of the casting director while dressed in drag in a production of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Hesmondhalgh only knew she was auditioning to play a "fun" character, so arrived "all Bet Lynch, in [her] leopard skin and red lippy". When she learned Hayley would be transgender, she was nervous, but "then it dawned on me that this was actually my 'dream job' and I desperately wanted it." The character of Hayley Cropper is around four years older than Hesmondhalgh.

Characterisation and identity

What's on TV describes the character as quiet, and kind-hearted. For a short period of time, after the actor took a one-year break from the show, the producers decided to change her ways. After a brief period of resettlement, she resumed her more familiar temperament of being generally supportive and friendly to the other characters.

Development

Relationships

Hayley's only romantic relationship is with Roy. The characters were first friends and they started a relationship, until Hayley revealed her past history. Roy initially rejected her, but missed their friendship and three months later, followed her to Amsterdam where she was living on a houseboat, recuperating from her surgery. He persuaded her that they should work on their relationship, and as a result, she returned to Weatherfield where she became a machinist in Mike Baldwin's (Johnny Briggs) lingerie factory, Underworld.

Roy later proposed to Hayley at a fancy-dress disco on St. Valentine's Day 1999. At that time, they could not legally marry, since Hayley was still seen as a male in the eyes of the law. Eventually, they found a female vicar who would help them, and they were united in a blessing ceremony held in Roy's Rolls on 23 April 1999. As a wedding present to Roy, Hayley officially changed her name by deed poll to Hayley Anne Cropper.

Since the passing of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in UK law, it has been possible for transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificates. This was legally valid when marriage was only for different-sex couples. In 2010, following a discussion of the ramifications of their not being legally married, Roy and Hayley decided to make it official. It was revealed that Hayley had applied for, and received, her new birth certificate, and so, after some disagreements about the cost and motives for marriage, the plans were made for the wedding. The couple finally married on 30 August 2010 at a stately home in Cheshire, and almost everyone but the bride arrived by steam train.

Their relationship was tested by various storylines including Tracy Barlow's (Kate Ford) deceit, Hayley's secret son and Hayley's absence from the street. Briefly, upon her return, there was a difficult situation where she had developed a crush on one of her co-workers in Africa (further reading below). They eventually worked out their differences.

Pancreatic cancer and suicide

On 11 January 2013, it was announced that Hesmondhalgh would leave Coronation Street at the end of her contract. The actress recorded her final scenes on 18 November 2013, being screened on 20 January 2014, and the producers came up with a dramatic exit storyline for her character. The appearance of a transgender woman in a mainstream soap opera attracted initial opposition from some members of the public, as expressed in calls to the Granada duty office, and letters written to magazines and newspapers. A minority of people expressed their concern at having such "bizarreness" brought into their homes on a prime-time show. Transgender groups were also largely unhappy with the storyline, and found Hayley's original character traits, as badly written, clichéd and ill-informed. Press for Change, the transgender campaign and information group, were particularly concerned with the direction of the storyline, but after the first two months a trans advisor connected to Press for Change, Annie Wallace, was regularly consulted for eighteen months by scriptwriters and the actor, and trans groups appeared happier with the stories and scripts that resulted from this liaison. In an interview with Hesmondhalgh in August 2015, it was revealed that in tribute to Wallace, the writers gave Hayley's middle name as Anne, and gave her the same birthday, as well as a mutual love for rock music, especially Queen. Wallace is now an actress in her own right, and appears as the character Sally St. Claire in the Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks.

Transgender campaigners were initially upset that a cisgender woman had been chosen for the part but later praised Hesmondhalgh's dedication and sensitivity. Hayley was, for many viewers, the first transgender woman whose story they had seen unfold on TV. Hesmondhalgh has become an outspoken activist for trans rights, including becoming the first Friend of campaign group Trans Media Watch and as Hayley, she has heralded a new level of acceptance among people across the country. The official LGBT History Month website includes Hayley as one of the important famous LGBT people in their history, even though she is a fictional character.

In 2008, All About Soap included Hayley's transgender plot in their list of "top ten taboo" storylines of all time. Their writer described it as one of the "taboos which have bravely been broken by soaps."

On 22 January 2014, Hesmondhalgh won "Best Serial Drama Performance" at the National Television Awards. Also in 2014, Hesmondhalgh was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at The British Soap Awards. As well as being nominated for the "Best Actress" award, Hesmondhalgh's final appearance, entitled "Hayley's Death", was nominated for the "Best Single Episode" award, as well. Hesmondhalgh won both of these awards. Hesmondhalgh also won "Best On-screen partnership" and "Best Storyline" – both alongside David Neilson – at the ceremony.

Political impact

Coronation Street handling of transgender issues, the uncertainty of whether her partner would accept her gender identity and the inability of transgender people to adopt children or marry, has been praised by transgender groups. An Early Day Motion was also tabled in Parliament by Lynne Jones, MP, praising the story team and researchers, and Julie Hesmondhalgh for her portrayal.

Following the screening of the "wedding" in 1999, the Labour Government announced that a Parliamentary Working Group was being created to assess how the United Kingdom could grant trans people the legal rights for which they had fought for decades. The result of this was the tabling, in 2004, of the Gender Recognition Act, granting trans people full legal status in their acquired sex. It has been said that the character of Hayley deserves partial credit for bringing the issues faced by trans people to public attention in a sympathetic manner, rather than the sensationalist coverage that had previously existed. It is also alleged that the resultant public support for this fictional character went in favour of the Bill.

References

  • Hayley Cropper at itv.com