Soap icon Natalie Cassidy, best known for playing Sonia Fowler on EastEnders for over three decades, has revealed her next career ambition: stand-up comedy. The 42-year-old actress, who left Walford in February last year, confessed that the idea of performing comedy both delights and terrifies her.
From Albert Square to the Pub Stage
Speaking to comedian Rebecca Maree during a live podcast, Cassidy said, "I find it absolutely fascinating that idea of standing on stage on your own - and your job is to make people laugh." She added, "I'd sh** my pants. But I'd love to do five minutes in a pub. My style would probably be very anecdotal - probably funny stories about my kids." The mother-of-two also expressed interest in joining a sitcom like Motherland, in which she previously guest-starred, or classics like Gimme, Gimme, Gimme or Friday Night Dinner.
Reflecting on Her EastEnders Legacy
Cassidy fondly recalled her most iconic storyline: Sonia giving birth at age 15, unaware she was pregnant. "People just come up to me and say, 'I did a Sonia!' and tell me their birth stories," she said. She also paid tribute to late co-stars June Brown, Peggy Mitchell, and Wendy Richard, noting, "I look back now and realise you don't know what you've got."
Life Beyond the Soap
During a break from EastEnders between 2007 and 2014, Cassidy appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2012, an experience she described as a "hoo ha." She criticised inflated egos in the industry, saying, "I've been in this industry for over 30 years, but I've never changed. I have no ego." Her advice to her younger self: "Don't trust everybody. Don't be so kind."
Parenting in the Digital Age
Cassidy, who has daughters Eliza, 16, and Joanie, 9, expressed concerns about raising children in a world where everything is documented. "If someone's boob pops out at a party, at school the next day it goes all round," she said. "My favourite saying has always been, 'What people think of you is none of your business.'" She admitted that parenting has been her biggest challenge, adding, "I absolutely love it, but it's hard work."
