Former EastEnders star Jan Graveson has opened up about how June Brown, who played Dot Branning on the show, wanted her character Disa O’Brien to return.
In case you missed it, a number of former EastEnders stars are returning to the show for the funeral episodes of Dot Branning, and Graveson is one of those stars. This will be the show’s tribute to longtime EastEnders star June Brown, who passed away earlier this year aged 95.
Alongside Graveson, former cast members Jacqueline Jossa (Lauren Branning), Lord Michael Cashman (Colin Russell), Gary Hailes (Barry Clark), Tom Watt (Lofty Holloway) and Linda Davidson (Mary Smith) are all returning to Walford.
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And now, in an interview, the actor opened up about what it was like to go back to the show and how June Brown had always hoped that Disa would return to the show.
“It’s something that I’ve always wished for in the back of my mind. So, when my agent called me and said that EastEnders had been on the phone, I thought. ‘Goodie! Fantastic!’ I was so excited and absolutely thrilled. June had always hoped that I would go back. She loved our scenes and our acting together,” she said.
She also opened up about why it was so important for her to go back to honour June.
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“It was important because seeing Dot off means seeing June off again. When I think of June, I think of Dot, and when I think of Dot, I think of June because she invoked so much of herself in that character. It’s eerie. She was amazing at it,” she said.
“I hit it off and became very good friends with June from working on EastEnders. Our friendship lasted until the very end. I was extremely close to her because she was a one-off and very extrovert, and we had the same birthday, which she always talked about,” she continued.
“In times of trouble in my life, I’ve gone to June, stayed over at her house, and she’s let me be there for days. I’ve done a lot of work for animal welfare, and June came to all of those events with me. She was a brilliant human being,” she added.
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.
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