I understand the point about Zoe and wouldn't be surprised if at some point she joined the cast of EE.

I will admit it is along time since I watched EE (I think it was when Dirty Den was killed the first time ), but I can't help but see trailers for the show and interviews with the actors. My perception of many of the actors in EE - and the other soaps, but to a lesser extent - is that the actors may be speaking lines, but their real personality seems not very far from the character they play. In other words, they are almost just being themselves, but saying someone else's words. Does that sound daft? As far as I can see there is only handful of actors who having made their name in a soap, have then gone on to successfully play other roles (and for the life of me I can't name even one right now!).

I think it depends on the level of success? I think there's a few but mostly women. Unless Ross Kemp counts... oh and Robson Green.

Michelle Collins? Tamsin Outhwaite? Sarah Lancashire whom I loved in All The Small Things.

I agree it is about the level of success and maybe Michelle Ryan is about to break in to the big time.

Robson Green I would agree with to some extent. Sarah Lancashire I would definitely agree with, but she was in Corrie which I think has a better standard of actors and always stood out to me as a great actress. I'd say Tamsin Outhwaite still plays similar roles to the one she played in EE, but she was good as the face of Avon!

Michelle Collins I don't agree with. When she was in Two Thousand Acres of Skye she went to a 'good' restaurant in my Mum's village 'good' as in people drive a fair way to eat there and you always have to book). She had drunk a lot of wine and was smoking in the no smoking area. The lady owner discreetly asked Michelle Collin's assistant when she was away from the table to ask Michelle to put out the cigarette, pointing out about being in the no smoking area. Michelle stood up dropped her cigarette on to the carpet and stubbed it out with her shoe and sat down again. I'd say that was a typical Cindy Beale gesture. I'd say Michelle Collins thinks she is a big star.

Sue Johnstone. Ricky Tomlinson, Amanda Burton, Geoffrey Hughes and Joanne Froggatt.

If you include Aussie ones then there's Simon Barker, Russell Crowe, Jessie Spencer ...

We are really discussing actors who were in EE.

PS Do you mean Simon Baker?

I don't watch Loose Women, but you can hardly miss who's on it. And at 22 years old, I don't think Lynda has been in anything worth watching since I was born.

At Home with the Braithwaites was awesome! And she was a really good baddie in something recently too...can't remember what it was though.

I'm not loving her on Strictly but I do think she seems a nice lady and I think Lynda has a lot to be proud of with her career.

At Home With the Brainthwaites was pretty okay, yes, but it wasn't "her" show. She didn't have a significant role.

Sorry

I was taking my cue from Veri and her comment
and also the mention of Sarah Lancashire.

(and also the facts I find soaps to be pretty much of a muchness anyway )

If Simon Baker is 'The Mentalist' them yeah, that's the bunny.

No problem!

Out of all the soaps I'd say Corrie has had the best quality actors over the years such as...

Arthur Lowe
Bernard Cribbins
Honor Blackman
Ian McKellen
Jill Halfpenny
Kathy Staff
Martin Shaw
Maureen Lipman
Norman Wisdom
Peter Kay
Prunella Scales
Roy Hudd
Tony Slattery
Zoe Lucker

...but I agree the rest are all pretty much the same.

I'd say Simon Baker has done VERY well for himself (you'd never know he was an Aussie!) - Heartbreak High (I used to love that series with Drazic et al), star of The Guardian, star of The Mentalist, lots of film work. Oh And he is cute!

Guy Pearce is another soap star who made the big time in Hollywood and Alan Dale has done very well too!

Not too many actors from British soaps do as well.

No, they don't for some reason.

For the length of time it was on, Brookside didn't actually do badly for introducing actors that have gone on to do well elsewhere - actually thinking about it Anna Friel has made a career for herself in America.

You can add Joanna Lumley to the Corrie list, as well

Eric Bana hasn't done too badly either apart from picking crap films recently

Yes, you are right. Brookside and Coronation Street have been good starting points for the careers of quite a few good actors (you mentioned some earlier too). You see what I mean about EE now?

Sir Ben Kingsley was on Corrie too

The list is long that's for sure! What was Eric Bana in?

I think the thing with EE - that the other soaps have followed - is quantity over quality. They are churning out so many episodes the quality has to suffer. Most of the people on your list are from the Corrie Golden Years when it was 2 episodes a week.

Some are, some are not, but I think you've got a very valid point, as it seems to me EE changes its cast all the time, whereas in Corrie it seems less often - bearing in mind I don't watch either LOL!

And not forgetting Kylie. Starting in a soap is starting to make fine sense. Didn't know Eric Bana had though - explains a couple of things.
Re Michelle Ryan, she might have missed her shot in the US, unlike Anna Friel, after Bionic Woman was such a flop. I liked Jennifer Elliston in Phantom Of The Opera... but not as much as Minnie Driver. She was hilarious.

Eastenders seems to attract named actors to it rather than being the beginning of a broader career.

There's something about a lot of the acting in EE ... I can't quite put my finger on how to describe it, but somehow it says "Eastenders acting". Once I became aware of it, I could barely stand to watch the show any more.

It probably does have something to do with the large number of episodes and the sort of actor who can manage that. You could be right about many of them playing parts that are a lot like themselves (which could make it easier to get so much done).

There's something about Zoe Lucker in real life (well, on SCD) that kinda says "Eastenders acting" too, which fits with the idea that EE actors are "being themselves".

Re Michelle Ryan -- I didn't see much of her in EE, but she's seemed natural when I've seen her in other things. Her Bionic Woman ran afoul of the writer's strike ... and Katee Sackhoff being cast as a more compelling character.

If we're talking soaps from all countries, I'm surprised no one's mentioned Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) who got an Emmy, Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series, for "All My Children", an American soap. (I had to look up the exact category, but I remembered the Emmy part.)

But when I said "soaps generally", I had British ones in mind. I can't say much about the soaps in most other countries, though the acting in the ones I've seen that reach the UK doesn't seem to have "acting" written on it in the way the acting in British soaps often seems to.

Re Anna Friel, it's been a long time since she was in Brookside.

I agree - most actors in East Enders play themselves and I think Natalie Cassidy is Sonia Jackson and Sonia Jackson is Natalie Cassidy. Some soap actors are very talented and have gone on to make a name for themselves away from Soap Land i.e. Michelle Collins, Michelle Ryan, Jessie Wallace, the fabulous Jean Alexander, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Natalie Imbruglia - I could go on. They are the exception rather than the rule though.

Well acting is a big part to dancing

I like this, from an interview with Karen:


However, I'm not sure she's right that the public's not looking at faces.

Yes. In fact it's slightly ironic, given that people have a tendency to talk about her "gurning" when she dances!

I think someone like Lynda is relying on facial expressions, but Ricky and Natalie seem to genuinely feel the dances and act them from within.