Are you glad Mel was killed off and the door has closed for good at EastEnders?
There are moments when I think I would love Mel to have gone back as an old lady, but when the door is closed, you can’t go back. And now it’s over, there’s a sense of ‘the world is your oyster’.
Did you enjoy going back?
I was having a lovely time at EastEnders. I could have quite easily stayed for another five years, but thankfully when you clear a space, you let in other stuff and you realise the potential is quite enormous.
Like you’ve ever been short of work!
Yeah, but you do get that fear of ‘What if I never work again?’ and I think I’ve never felt that so much. You’ve joined the cast of The Seagull with Emilia Clarke and Robert Glenister, to name a few. I do feel ridiculously lucky. We’re all cogs in this play and it’s been brought bang up todate – Chekhov but not as we know it. It really gets my juices going. I look forward to going back in every day, and that’s almost unheard of – especially when you get to my age. It feels like I’m in the right place.
You hit the big 5-0 this year – any plans?
I did think about doing something massive to mark it, but then I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing work-wise. I’m not great at planning. I’m so last minute, especially with holidays.
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