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Post by RitaLittlewood on May 31, 2009 14:01:38 GMT
From BBC Online:
Page last updated at 11:47 GMT, Friday, 29 May 2009 12:47 UK
Brown bares all as Calendar Girl
EastEnders star June Brown is to appear alongside former Albert Square regulars Anita Dobson and Jill Halfpenny in West End stage hit Calendar Girls.
Jerry Hall, Hollyoaks' Gemma Atkinson and Sara Crowe also feature in the show's new cast, who take over at London's Noel Coward Theatre in July.
Calendar Girls was inspired by the Women's Institute members who stripped off for a charity calendar in 1999.
Their story spawned a hit 2003 film, on which Tim Firth's stage play is based.
Following a national tour, the play arrived in the West End in April with Sheila Hancock, Patricia Hodge and Lynda Bellingham among its cast.
Nomination
Brown, 82, has played Dot Cotton (now Branning) in EastEnders since 1985, the year the show first aired.
Earlier this year she received a Bafta nomination for best actress, for an episode in which she appeared solo.
Jill Baker, Richenda Carey and Jack Ryder - another former EastEnders cast member - are also among the incoming actors.
The new cast will be with the show from 28 July to 17 October.
Earlier this year, six of the original 'calendar girls' reunited for a new calendar marking the 10th anniversary of the original.
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Post by pearly queen on May 31, 2009 19:43:22 GMT
Oh no, June! Don't go getting 'em out - it's so undignified! I've seen the film, so I know it's tasteful and well intentioned, but there's still something quite sleazy about an octegenarian household name flashing her lils on a stage.
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Post by RitaLittlewood on May 31, 2009 20:53:07 GMT
I was surprised to read it but she did say she was being sort of rested because she costs too much to have on the show. So this is probably part of her break.
Patsy
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Jun 19, 2009 20:19:08 GMT
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Jul 30, 2009 11:25:09 GMT
From the Sun:
Exclusive
Enders bosses could make Dot into a monster ... then kill her off
By COLIN ROBERTSON
Published: Today
EASTENDERS legend June Brown has admitted bosses could kill off her character - to save money.
She told TV Biz that all producers needed to do was to turn lovable busybody Dot Branning into a hate figure.
Asked if it could happen, June, 82, replied: "Well they could. If they want to drop you, most often they will give you a rather unpleasant storyline.
"The public always equate the character to the actor - and then everyone says, 'Oh I don't like him at all - I'll be glad to when he's gone'. They ease it in. You're in the hands of the Gods."
Insecure
June is now on a break from Albert Square as she appears NUDE in the West End stage production of Calendar Girls for three months.
She has starred in the BBC soap for 24 years.
June is due back in Walford for filming in November but admitted she still felt insecure over her job on the soap.
TV Biz revealed how the actress had weeks of scenes cut in the Spring so bosses could trim costs.
She is one of the highest paid stars, making £370,000 a year as Dot. But she is paid that amount as a pro rata sum, based on how many episodes she stars in.
June added that her break from the soap had helped her appreciate her job more.
She said: "I thought it was good to have a bit of a change because you can get very bogged down in these sort of things. I have got something on my door there that says 'Remind me how lucky I am to work here - I keep forgetting'.
"It's true but I am lucky to have that job - especially in this time of recession. It's hard for a lot of actors to get a job at all. So you shouldn't really bite that hand that feeds you."
She declared that she still loved taking part in EastEnders but was hesitant about whether she would carry on in the show until the end of her career.
June said: "I don't know, but I do enjoy it. It's become a second home. My dressing room - I have got my cigs, my mail comes there. It's a little oasis away from home and home life. A moment of peace.
"I've got a lot of friends there - the make-up people, the stylists, a few of the actors." But she confessed she didn't know all the performers that well as time pressures meant they never rehearsed together.
Tears
June explained: "I don't know all the actors as well as in the old days because we don't rehearse as much now.
"So you get used to more instant acting. It's easier in some respects, more difficult others.
"I'm not very good at instant emotion. Some people can just look down and tears fall out of their eyes and I think 'How clever are you!'
"In a play where it's all built up and the words hit you, you don't even have to think about it - it just happens. I find it difficult so I say it's not for me to cry, it's for the audience - but it's really because I can't cry myself." June's prolonged absence has been obvious to EastEnders' nine million fans.
This week she started appearing as Jessie in Calendar Girls in London's theatre heartland.
She stars alongside fellow former EastEnders Jill Halfpenny and Anita Dobson. Mick Jagger's ex-love Jerry Hall and I'm A Celeb star Gemma Atkinson also have roles in the production.
Joking about her screen absence, June said: "They can drop people out if they don't mention it.
"The problem is a lot of people know I have come to do this (the stage show). If you just drop out and nobody knows, it's all right."
Calendar Girls - the true tale of a Women's Institute group who made a fortune for charity by posing nude for a calendar - has been quite traumatic for June. And that's not just because she has to strip naked.
She said: "I'm losing weight which I can't afford to do.
"They don't give us time to eat - I need to put some weight on."
She said she was glad to be doing the play - which raises money for Leukaemia Research - as her mum and grandmother died of cancer.
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Post by pearly queen on Jul 30, 2009 18:01:32 GMT
She declared that she still loved taking part in EastEnders but was hesitant about whether she would carry on in the show until the end of her career. How much longer does she anticipate this career lasting, if she's over 80 now?? If they kill off Dot surely she'll hang up her laundry basket and take it easy. I don't want to sound ageist - but she should be semi-retired by now, take it easy and let younger actors have a chance of her success. |
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Post by RitaLittlewood on Jul 30, 2009 19:44:56 GMT
LOL! Maybe they paraphrased.
Patsy
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