Jean Slater on Sean, jobs and love

Yesterday, I managed to grab a chat with a personal EastEnders favourite of mine Gillian Wright - Jean Slater in the Walford soap - about her forthcoming story with her screen daughter Stacey (Lacey Turner).

Click here to read the main part of the interview, but read on for some juicy bonus excerpts from my time with Gillian, where she reveals that Jean finally gets a job!

I had of e-mails at the time asking whether Jean was coming back or not!
"I was wondering the same thing! I remember getting the scripts where I gave Stacey a kiss goodbye and I got driven off. The last direction in the script for that episode said 'out on Stacey as the last of her family leave her' and I thought 'oh, heck, lots of people leave Walford in a car!'"

Do you miss Rob Kazinsky?
"Yeah. He was a bit of a joker and I miss him very much."

Does Jean miss Sean?
"Oh yeah. There are always those things that you don't speak about in families, though, aren't there? There are so many families that could relate to the unspoken that everyone knows is there. For example, not mentioning someone's name or not mentioning the emotional baggage that's carried around with them. That's why I like that side of Jean. Sean's still very much in her mind."

Do you get recognised a lot while you're out?"I do quite often get asked if I'm alright while I'm out. Usually in the vegetable department of a supermarket! Even when I go out with a hat and sunglasses. I do wonder whether it's my chin that gives me away!"

What else is to come for Jean?
"Well, she'll be getting a job which gives her a bit of confidence and she's reaching a more positive plateau in her life. The storyline that happens with Stacey puts Jean in a different place than the audience has seen her before. She starts forging her way through her situation and accepts some responsibility."

How much like Jean are you in real life?
"I'm very different. Although it's slightly unnerving when you speak to someone over the phone or receive a delivery of a shed or something and they say 'I recognise your voice from somewhere…'"

How would you like to see Jean develop?
"I would very much like to explore Jean's character that is outside being a mother that is always failing or the mother that's always a drain on Stacey. I was desperate to have a screen relationship and they brought in Richard Hope as Ted. It was a lovely little storyline and it was so refreshing to be playing Jean falling in love and worrying about her looks and her age."

Will Jean ever find love again?
"I hope so! I'd like to think so anyway. There's a lot of scope."

How about Charlie? Although isn't he a relative?
"Charlie's the brother of Brian, Jean's late husband…"

You could do a Peggy and switch brothers…
"[Laughs]"

What's happened to Jean's cosmetics?
"They went into the bin, never to be see again!"

Does she have a job yet?
"She does have a job, yes... I don't know if I'm allowed to say. All I'll say is that there was a subtle clue during the huge Peggy and Archie wedding episode… I'll leave you guessing!"

Is there anything you're waiting for the storyliners to do with Jean?
"I'd love for her to work behind the bar for a night or something. Putting her in positions where you wouldn't expect her to be. Or maybe doing a day taxi driving or a day on the switchboard!"

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