EastEnders legends Joe and Shana Swash are eyeing a return to the soap, Entertainment Daily can revealed.
ED! spoke exclusively to Shana to celebrate the launch of her upcoming feature film, Love Without Walls, and she said that a return to the small screen could be on the cards, for herself and brother Joe.
Joe appeared on the BBC soap as Mickey Miller from 2003 till 2008, with a brief return in 2011. Shana, meanwhile, appeared as his on-screen sister Demi for three years from 2004. So could they return to EastEnders? Shana admits: “Never say never!”
Joe and Shana Swash eye EastEnders return
Shana told us that while she’s enjoying “riding the wave” that her new filming is bringing, she isn’t ruling out a return to the soap that made her famous. And, it seems, neither is I’m A Celebrity star Joe.
She told us: “I always said I’d never say never. I think my brother has always said the same thing. He’d never say never. We were never killed off, so I think it would always be nice to come back with a real big bang storyline. So yes, we’re always open to it.”
We were never killed off, so I think it would always be nice to come back with a real big bang storyline.
Shana admitted she looks back on her days on the soap with fondness. “For me and my brother it was both our springboards into where we are now and I can’t be more thankful for it. It taught me everything I knew. I was only 13. I did three years. It taught me pretty much everything I know now.
“And also working with people who were a lot older than me and taking tips and watching those guys. What a great experience for a 13 year old to be on set with all these amazing people that I’ve grown up watching. And especially to be with my brother, and then my mum was my chaperone at the time, so it was just like a gang. Sometimes I had to go, what is going on?! Is it real?!”
Asked what’s coming up next for her, Shana admits she’s a “jobbing actress”, so it’ll be auditions, auditions and more auditions. And it seems that the big screen is where she feels most at home these days.
“It’s more intimate. It’s a smaller team and, especially working at EastEnders, it was lovely, but it’s such a big production that people come and go really quickly. So to do films, especially small indie films that are based around true stories that are really nitty gritty, that’s where my heart is and what I enjoy doing the most.”
Shana stars in new film Love Without Walls
Love Without Walls tells the story of a young married couple, Sophie and Paul, who are suddenly made homeless. And, after living through the pandemic, Shana told us she can easily see how it could happen to any of us.
“Everything stopped. Work stopped, acting stopped, auditions stopped, so it was really difficult. But for me it was a kick up the [bleep]. I thought, everything’s dried up, we now need to think how we’re going to get ourselves out of this. It was a really tough situation for a lot of people. But for me it’s what kick-started my own business, so I was always thankful,” she said, of her Swash & Jones coffee van, which sits in her local park.
“It was a catch 22. It was really awful but my business came out of it and it’s really successful. But I needed lockdown to happen for the business to start. Ultimately it was a productive time but I know a lot of people had hardship,” she added.
Speaking about the issue of homelessness, which is addressed in the film, she concluded: “You know what, none of us are really that far from it. We’re a bill away from it, or a month’s rent away from it. So filming Love Without Walls and doing a lot of stuff on the streets, sat on the floor, it really brought it home to me.”
Love Without Walls will be in UK cinemas from June 9. More information can be found at www.lovewithoutwallsfilm.com.
Read more: All right EastEnders, if you’re bringing people back, here’s out wish list!
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