Natalie Cassidy says she is weighing up her future career options as her EastEnders character faces a long stint behind bars after being arrested for murder.
The London-born star, 41, has played Sonia Fowler on and off since making her debut on the BBC soap in 1993 when she was just 10.
She’s set to take some time out as she films a consumer documentary for Channel 4 called What’s The Big Deal?
After that she says she wouldn’t mind a move into comedy.
She told the Standard: “I really love comedy. I did a bit on Motherland and I did Mandy with Diane Morgan, I did a little voice over thing for Ricky Gervais recently but comedy I love. It’s a big passion of mine so if anything came up in the comedy world, that would be my next bucket list thing to do.”
BUt she’s not quite so sure when it comes to stand up, however.
Despite having appeared in panto (oh, yes she has!) and other stage productions over the years, she says she has started to develop a touch of stage fright as she gets older.
“Stand up is one thing I love to watch, I watch it continuously,” she explained.
“It’s my go-to and sitcoms and things you know. Stand up as I get older, I think I get more scared of being on stage. I’ve not been on stage for a long time and it is something I’d like to conquer, perhaps another play I think would be good for me just to get rid of that fear.”
Cassidy also wouldn’t say no to a cameo in the highly anticipated Gavin & Stacey Christmas special and has been on at her On The Telly podcast co-host Joanna Paige, aka Stacey, for any and all information.
She said: “I keep saying to Jo, have you had the script yet? I keep trying to trip her up but she’s not opening up I’m afraid.
“I do know how she feels [with trying to keep storylines secret]. But that will be brilliant, I can’t wait to watch it.”
But Cassidy’s most important role is being mum to her two daughters 13-year-old Eliza and Joanie, seven.
She admits that juggling her career with motherhood can be a challenge at times and that the mum guilt is real as she fronts a new campaign for Maltesers.
New research of 2,000 mums by the confectionary brand found that one in five (18 percent) working mums clock up an additional eight hours “on shift” at home each day on top of their “regular jobs”, with the average number of unseen hours for mothers being just under five hours.
But many working mums keep quiet about how difficult the juggle can be, with almost a fifth (18 percent) of working mums feeling like they can’t be open about their other main job, parenting, in the workplace because it is not “the done thing” (11 percent).
Almost three in five (59 percent) admit to using their holiday days to care for sick children, and over a third (34 percent) have concealed the fact they had little or no sleep due to looking after their children the night before.
Reflecting on her own experience, she said: “The juggle is real, isn't it? There's breakfast chaos, homework help, 24-hour taxi service, and that is on top of a day or night spent at work. I know that my 9 to 5 turns into my 5 to 9pm as well. Now wouldn't it be nice if we could send truly honest out-of-office messages to our colleagues? And what would they say if they could?”
As for the mum guilt, she confessed: “Sometimes my girls will say ‘oh mummy you’re not here a lot’ if I’m busy and I just try to explain to them that you have to earn money, I’m doing stuff for you, we’re building as the family, all is for you - your future, you know.
“I know that I might not be here but in years to come you’ll realise why I did the hard work and put the time in and hopefully they’ll understand and they’ll have a good work ethic which I think is really important.”
