True cockney Patsy Kensit will put her experience growing up around the Kray Twins to good use after landing her dream job on EastEnders.
The actress, who has worked on Holby City and Emmerdale, will be joining Albert Square just in time for the festive season.
Patsy will star as Lola Pearce's mum, Emma, in the favourite BBC soap.
Before landing the role, she said how she had dreams of being like Peggy Mitchell.
Patsy, 54, was born in London and has links to the East End's gangs of the 60s.
Her dad James Kensit was a pickpocket and earned himself the name Jimmy The Dip.
He was also an associate of the infamous Kray Twins, who ran the East End before they were both locked away for their crimes.
Patsy's brother even had Reggie Kray as his godfather - so she's about as London as you can get.
After growing up in a council estate, where gang members would often pop by, she was forced to flee to Paris when she was young.
Her dad pretended to be a travel writer on a cruise ship, before he was arrested on his return to London.
“Having to flee our home like that could have been pretty traumatising for a child, but it didn’t scare me,” she said.
“To be honest, I found it all very exciting. I couldn’t understand why Mum looked so sad the entire time we were away.
“Now, of course, I know it was because Dad was on the run.”
In her autobiography Absolute Beginner, she described some of the parties at her dad's friends' houses as "straight out of The Sopranos".
After she hit the big time, she was sent letters from Reggie Kray, who was in prison at the time.
He asked her for a signed photograph and told her that he was there if she needed him for anything.
She starred as Crepe Suzette in Absolute Beginner, then Lethal Weapon 2 - alongside Mel Gibson.
Her big entrance to the soap comes after Danny Dyer and Charlie Brooks leave the soap.
An EastEnders source told The Sun: “Bosses are thrilled they have managed to get Patsy for this role.
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“She’s a great actress and is about to play a part in one of their biggest current storylines.”
In the show, Patsy's character Emma left Lola when she was just three and has never been seen on screen.
Danielle Harold, who plays Lola, will be leaving the square after a shock death on the show.
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