David Neilson has been wearing cardigans and wiping tables on the cobbles for 25 years - but his real life is worlds away from that of Roy Cropper.
Coronation Street legend has a very different style in real life, although his wife once overheard someone at a supermarket checkout saying her husband was "just as scruffy in real life as he is on the telly".
The actor's much-loved character has certainly evolved over the years, going from a nerdy loner and stalker to a community champion and the Street's agony uncle.
Roy has been at the centre of some of Corrie's biggest every storylines, from the death of his transgender wife Hayley to the baby blackmail plot involving Tracey Barlow.
Playing Roy feels like a "very comfortable pair of slippers" for David, who had an incredibly varied career and even appeared on a rival soap before heading to Weatherfield in 1995.
To fund his education at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, David worked as a gas fitter, ice cream salesman and pulled pints as a barman.
After leaving acting school, David had roles in Z-Cars, Young at Heart, Casualty, Heartbeat and even popped up in EatEnders in the early 90s in a small role as property-buyer Mr Webster.
He rose to fame as the iconic Roy Cropper, but was originally only contracted for just six episodes in a smaller role.
In his earliest scenes, Roy was depicted as a sinister loner who pestered Deirdre Barlow, but he was able to give the character more depth following discussions with his wife Jane.
"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," David told The Mirror.
"My wife is a special needs teacher and she worked with people with autism. She said Roy could have Asperger's syndrome, making him socially inept, rather than menacing. Nobody really knew what Asperger's was back in 1995, so it's my wife I owe it to.
"It's never mentioned in the story though, and it shouldn't be - Roy is a human being, and a label doesn't help him. But I think he's got it. It gives him reasons for his behaviour and gives me something to play. I enjoy idiosyncrasies in people and Roy is full of them."
David's dedication to the role paid off as Roy became a more prominent fixture and has stayed on our screens for a quarter of a century.
The actor and wife Jane are parents to son Daniel, who regularly goes to watch Leicester City football matches with his dad, and the couple also enjoying being grandparents.
David loves how his character has transitioned over the years and been part of upsetting, dramatic and comedy storylines.
"People come into the cafe and he gives them all this wisdom! It’s changed because he was this strange guy stalking Deirdre, a real loner and oddball," he told The Mirror last week.
"One of the 'character' notes was that he 'just doesn't get it, he stands too close'. Nowadays he’s become this font of all wisdom. He’s turned into Rita.
"But somehow or other he has survived and adapted. The time has flown, it has been extraordinary. I have worked with some really good people."
Modest David has put his success down to "luck" and tries to stay out of the public eye as much as possible, but he accepts there is a level of responsibility and duty of care towards viewers.
"There is a public responsibility. When I was first in the show my brother was in hospital and I went to visit him in Leicester," he told The Mirror last week.
"Lots of people were in the foyer and this lady approached and said, ‘My husband’s just died’.
"I asked if I could ring somebody for her and she said she was going to go to her daughter’s.
"I gave her my number to say, ‘Ring to say you’re all right’. Eventually her daughter rang to let me know she was okay.
"And I was, like, I’ve just gone to see my brother and suddenly you’re involved in this thing and you’re a face on the telly and something devastating had happened to this person and, obviously, as an actor we feed off that, that is what it is like to lose somebody.
"So, in a way a huge privilege, but also a terrible responsibility."
David is currently at the centre of a devastating storyline involving Roy's niece Nina, who was brutally attack in a vicious hate crime because of her appearance.
It tragically mirrors the real life death of Sophie Lancaster, who was murdered by a group of teenage boys while walking through a park with her boyfriend in 2007.
Corrie viewers have been left in tears watching Seb Franklin's death and listening to Roy's emotional speech while at Nina's bedside in hospital.
"It’s not an enjoyable story, I have to say. When it is work, this is happening to us emotionally, so it can be gruelling," said David.
David has explained the attack brings him closer to Nina, who he becomes more protective over, but she will go into her shell and try to hide away from the world.
Discussing Roy's reaction, he said: "Over this period, and the attack, him sitting by the bed thinking about life and the possibility of her not being there he feels a tremendous sense of loss, the duty aspect of everything, there is more to it than that. He is dreading what could occur.
"He moves on in a way to a real relationship to being a father really, which he has to act. When he's close to losing her he realises what a terrible loss it would be because she is family."
While Roy may seem very cute and cuddly, David believes the cafe owner has a "dangerous side" if he is provoked.
"Like all of us, really, if something happens to me and mine, I think he is capable of anything. I think he could be quite dangerous," he said.
"I remember him attacking Gary Mallett with a cricket bat. Roy tends to operate out of a moral code which if he didn’t have that he'd just fall apart or go mad. He’d be the dangerous person on the street.
"He doesn't always want to do what he does but he's shunted into this situation whereby he inherits Nina and initially they don't get on, but he took her in.
"So, over this period – and brought into sharp focus by this attack and him sitting by the bed thinking about life and the possibility of her not being there – he feels a tremendous sense of loss and he is sort of dreading what could occur.
"If something happened to your child you don’t even want to think about it, it is just horrible, and you don't want to go there."
*Coronation Street airs tonight on ITV at 7.30pm and 8.30pm
