Re: | Page 17

Right, of course, yes. Can’t miss that one out! There are obviously a lot of people who’s been on there for a very, very long time so it sounds like a good place to work. I just wondered, if you’ve struck up any particularly strong friendships with the cast there or whether there were there any dragons… I think during my time on EastEnders, it was a little bit of a difficult time for me. My son was young and I did very long hours there. I had huge storylines in a short period of time but it was wonderful and I really, really loved the character and I loved the reaction the storyline got. Actually it was the first time the show had won a BAFTA. The whole storyline I was involved with – the love triangle with my on screen daughter Tiffany’s (played by Martine McCutcheon) husband, Grant Mitchell, (who was played by Ross Kemp) – we did a two-part special on our storyline and we won a BAFTA. That was directed by Tom Hooper, who directed the King’s Speech. It was wonderful and I loved the work and I loved the character, Louise. I had to leave the house really early to get on set by seven in the morning and then I tended to be working until really late and then coming straight back to my son. So, it was quite a difficult time and then you’re learning tons and tons. So it was very hard work - you didn’t have any ‘off time’ with people because you were working most of the time and when I wasn’t I would come back home to be with Alfie. So, I think that probably the best relationship that I struck up… I mean, who I really liked… was with Nadia Sawalha, who was there at the time… but I also grew close to Patsy Palmer (Bianca). We’re both from the East End – of course a lot of people in Eastenders aren’t from the East End. Our boys were similar ages, her Charlie and my Alfie and so we got quite close at that time then and she had a caravan down in Kent, so we went down to the caravan and we ended up buying one down there as well, near hers. Patsy’s a lovely person and Alfie and Charlie are still friends, which is really nice. There are people that I loved and that I still see. June Brown (Dot Cotton) is a big, big mate of mine and I adore her. I see her at lots of functions and different events and we’re close. There are people I know very well who are still on it, like Mo (Laila Morse who’s Gary Oldman’s sister). I know her from years ago, and working on Nil by Mouth that she did. Also Derek Martin was a good friend of mine. He used to be in it. And obviously, Danny’s in it now and as I said earlier, he’s a big friend of mine. Although I had enormous storylines I started off quite sassy and sexy in Eastenders and then they pile on more and more things on you so you get more and more downtrodden and your life gets more and more tragic and more and more difficult and … and you’re spending more time being that character than you are yourself. I think in the end I felt like I needed counselling for my character because they kind of make you more and more and more miserable and I wanted to get back to being sassy Louise again but she was a great character and people loved what I did which I really do appreciate and lots of people say, “you’ve got to get back in there because they need a sassy strong woman like My first professional show was in Belfast when I was 17 or 18, I was just starting o