Natalie Cassidy wants to become the longest-serving actress on EastEnders.
The 40-year-old wants to still be playing Sonia Fowler when she is an old lady. She joined the BBC One soap as Sonia when she was just 10 and has been a fixture in Albert Square on-and-off for 30 years
.Natalie has no plans to walk away from Walford and thinks Sonia can have more decades on the show. And she has her sights on surpassing the stints of iconic EastEnders matriarchs Dot Cotton and Pauline Fowler, who were played by June Brown and Wendy Richard respectively.
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Natalie said: “I think it’s an honour to have been there for as long as I have, I was 10 when I joined. What I have which is nice is that Sonia isn’t sensational at all. She really is one of the most normal characters. She goes to work, she goes over to the GP’s surgery, she works her nuts off, she goes home and she has her tea. I do think that people do like that sort of normal character.
(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
“She’s a bit like a pair of curtains, she’s the fabric of the show, you need the wallpaper that you know. If you turn it on you’ve grown up with Sonia. I think it’s possible that she could be there until she is very old.” Natalie insists morale is “very high” on the show at the moment. The actress credits executive producer Chris Clenshaw for improving everything on the programme.
It comes after Natalie hared her feelings about losing her good friend and co-star June, who sadly passed away in April 2022 when she was 95 years old. The soap said goodbye to June with a special episode in December 2022 that showed Dot’s funeral. Natalie had a big part in it as Dot’s step-granddaughter Sonia.
(Image: BBC)
Speaking to OK!, Natalie talked about how sad she was when June died. She recalled some funny stories about the telly star and said it was an “honour” to be a big part of the funeral episode. Natalie said about losing June: “It was very, very difficult for me, because obviously I’ve lost a dear friend as well as a colleague. She taught me a lot and we had a lot of laughs over the years.”
She also spoke of the fun times she had with June, like going on holiday together and having June stay at her house. They would hang out in their pyjamas, drink wine, and learn their lines. Natalie went on: “When she was 82 years old she’d be partying in a nightclub, and she was just so amazing. We had the best time.
(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
“It was an honour to lead that episode [Dot’s funeral] and be at the helm of everything. There was a lot resting on my shoulders, but I think I did her proud.” She added: “I certainly wouldn’t do a different soap – that would be terrible, jumping ship after all this time! My loyalty is with EastEnders. But I had eight years off, so I’ve not been there for a full 30 years and there’s always room to have more time off in the future.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
