Scott Maslen’s nickname on EastEnders is “Nemo” because he loves fishing so much.
The 48-year-old actor, who plays Jack Branning on the BBC One soap, has been a keen carp angler for the past 35 years and indulges his hobby most weekends which is how he got his fishy moniker, which is inspired by the Disney animation Finding Nemo about the search for a lost clownfish.
Speaking on the Pound For Pound podcast, which is co-hosted by his on-screen brother Jake Wood, who plays Max Branning, he revealed: “They call me Nemo at work, as well as a lot of other things, I get called a lot of things!
“It’s because I’m a carp angler, within fishing there’s many different varieties of fishing and styles of fishing.
“It’s something I’ve done since I was very young, maybe 35 years, and it’s very much a part of my life, it’s my getaway and I’ve been doing it for years and I’ve managed to do it all through my working life. I love it.”
Scott, who is married to Estelle Maslen, with whom he has 18-year-old son Zak, loves his fishing trips because it gives him time away from the pressures of work and lets him reconnect with nature.
No matter the weather or time of day, the hunky star will be sat by the riverbed on the hunt for the freshwater species.
He said: “I do it to get away, for me my job is my job and I’ve got my family and I get away and do my fishing and that’s my little buzz, I love it.
“It’s about finding something you love to do and that you enjoy to do and it gives you peace and a place where you can go and turn off and that’s fishing for me.
“It’s not just about the fish it’s about being out on the water in all types of weather and at times of the day that you’d never even think about, I’m up whenever the fish are up and deciding to eat.
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“I see some beautiful things and it don’t cost anything. That was always the thing, I was a council estate boy and fishing was something we used to do to get out of the council estates and go and sit somewhere nice with your mates and stay out of trouble.
“My granddad got me into it, I’ve got photos of him when he was a kid fishing with his dad.”
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