June Brown: 'Old award nearly flattened me'

EastEnders actress June Brown has joked that she is now wary of award statues after one of her old trophies nearly flattened her.

Last month, the 82-year-old was given a BAFTA nod for her groundbreaking single-hander episode of the Walford soap.

The 27-minute monologue saw her chain-smoking character Dot Branning record an audio message as part of a compilation for husband Jim Branning, who had suffered a stroke like John Bardon, the actor who plays him.

Speaking of how she learned of her BAFTA nomination, Brown told The Mirror: "Diederick Santer, our guv'nor, rang me up quite early in the morning, so I wasn’t best pleased because he woke me up. But it was nice of him.

"I don't believe anything is going to happen until it does, until you see your name on paper or it actually happens and you have something in your hand. So I don't get too excited.

She joked: "I have got quite a few awards already in the garage, one of them nearly flattened me. It fell off the cupboard and made a dent in the floor. So we are quite wary of awards, because they are heavy things."

She added: "The cast have been lovely. Everyone is almost more pleased than I am because I'm a grumpy old thing really."

Brown is the first soap actress to receive a BAFTA nomination since Coronation Street legend Jean Alexander for her portrayal of Hilda Ogden in 1989.

EastEnders is also nominated for best continuing drama at the ceremony, which takes place on April 26.

> Santer hails 'remarkable' June Brown