| Peter Pan at Milton Keynes Theatre | Steve McFadden stars as the infamous Captain Hook in Peter Pan at Milton Keynes Theatre along side Sophie Lawrence, Matt Slack, Acromaniacs and Trevor Marshall. Performances from 10 December2004 through to 16 January 2005. Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office: 01908 60 60 90 |
The arrival of panto at the Milton Keynes Theatre means an opportunity to see another big celebrity tread the boards all in aid of entertaining children and adults alike. And with this year's production of Peter Pan, who better to play the arch villain Captain Hook than soap baddy Steve McFadden aka Phil Mitchell from Eastenders?!
 | | Steve gets into character with Sophie |
While Steve may be currently resting from the BBC1 soap opera, he will definitely be earning his money with two performances a day for over four weeks. But his accession to soap stardom nearly never happened after Steve gave up acting at a young age. “If you’re a kid at a secondary comprehensive in North London as I was in the seventies, prancing around doing acting and being a luvvie wasn’t really a good idea for your personal security” explains Steve. “I kind of put it behind me and just forgot about it and pretended not to be interested in it.” But as is often the way, luck played a significant part in bringing Steve back to the stage. “It was only when I got a bit older that I thought I did actually enjoy it” he reveals.
 | | Steve along side Barbara Windsor |
“I did something accidentally. I went up on stage because some other people dropped out, and I suddenly remembered how much I liked it and the rest is history!” he continues. With his new found enthuasiam for acting, Steve applied to study at the Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts (RADA) and was surprised to be selected from the gruelling audition.
“I didn’t know what it meant to learn a speech and I didn’t know if I could learn lines" he says. "I didn’t know what the classics were, I didn’t know how to speak in a Shakespearean voice or in a Greek tragedy piece. “It was a blind leap in the dark and fortunately they saw something in me that they liked and said would I like to start next term.” His affinity for RADA continues today. He has recently begun teaching the new up and coming students and he will always be grateful for what they have taught him. | "Err…What’s my official line…There are no immediate plans." | | Steve McFadden on his proposed return to Eastenders |
“Basically you go through this world and occasionally somebody throws you a lifeline and that is what RADA did for me. They gave me a big opportunity and I was always have fond memories of the place.” But despite studying along side Ralph Fiennes, Alex Kingston, Clive Owen and Ian Glen, Steve found it incredibly difficult to get into the acting business. “At the time it was that Catch 22 thing where you had to have an Equity card to get a job, but you had to get a job to get into Equity (the actors union)” he explains. While Steve was waiting for another lucky break to get him into the acting world he returned to his previous job as a plumber and also had a stint at a shop called ‘The Love Tunnel’ in Soho. However, after a year of waiting, Steve’s amazing luck returned thanks to an old friend. “Somebody who I worked with at RADA as a director recommended me to a friend of theirs who had a production company that was doing a play that gave out Equity cards” he says.
 | | The Mitchell brothers, scary as ever |
“So again it was a bit of good fortune, I did the play and I got an Equity card and after that I didn’t stop working.” After the obligatory roles in The Bill, Minder and even Bergerac, Steve was ready to progress into the world of soap opera, teaming up with Ross Kemp to become one half of the infamous Mitchell brothers. But with Panto currently on Steve’s mind he can see the similarities between the two styles of acting. “Sad as it sounds I do still approach it quite seriously and I go from a character perspective of the story and the script” he says. My approach to Eastenders is the same as my approach to film and the same approach to theatre. Whatever I do I use the same skills and tools. “For me I’m not there to scare kids, I’m there too engage in the story and be as believable as I can, and if anyone gets scared in the mean time that is their problem. But apparently they are a bit scared…” he continues. With Steve now apparently willing to discuss Eastenders I went for the big question, when would he be returning to Albert Square? “Err…What’s my official line…There are no immediate plans” he answers sheepishly and with that, the interview came to an abrupt halt! Steve McFadden will be starring in Peter Pan at the Milton Keynes Theatre from the 10 December 2004 to 16 January 2005.
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