Steve McFadden

"Phil Mitchell"

Interviewed by Dan Abramson

I was having an extremely stroppy Monday when my answering machine recorded the first phone call I've ever received from a citizen of Walford.
"Hello Dan," said a familiar voice-on-tape. "This is Steve McFadden. I'm an actor in EastEnders."
That last sentence was not necessary. I had already identified the voice of Phil Mitchell, that noted East London family man, entrepreneur and street thug. Steve McFadden and Phil Mitchell speak in the same non-dulcet tones.
"I just was interested in your publication," said McFadden "and I was going to ask you a couple of questions about it..."
Abramson's cry of delight could probably have been heard in Britain without a telephone. It drowned out the rest of McFadden's message. You see, I had been trying unsuccessfully to get through to authentic EastEnders for several months.
When I re-wound the tape, I heard McFadden provide his phone number and the best time to call him on the set at Elstree Centre in Borehamwood, Hertsfordshire.
"Okay," he said in closing. "Hope to hear from you. All the best. Bye now."
My heart sang. I'm not sure exactly what tune it was singing. But Nick Berry's "Every Loser Wins" does come readily to mind.
Two days and half a dozen phone calls later, I got through to McFadden just as he was leaving the Queen Vic. I started by telling him that I had recently seen the "three-handed" episode with Sharon, Grant and Phil, adding that "You make a marvelous drunk."
"Thank-you," he said with becoming sobriety.
"Have you had much experience?"
"Loads."
McFadden proceeded to ask me several questions about this Gazette and the methods by which we distribute it. He stated that the main reason for his call was to compliment me and Larry Jaffee on the quality of our publication.
"Most fan newspapers are crawling," he said. "But yours concentrates on humour instead."
The trans-Atlantic connection was not all that good. I couldn't figure out what "cawling" meant. Was this some new Cockney slang term to include in our Glossary?
"Not 'cawling'" he yelled in a chief mechanic's angry voice. "'Crawling!' You don't crawl or act sycophantic. I like that."
I liked it too. Hearing Phil Mitchell of The East End tell me that he liked my style was a big moment for me. The week had become a lot less stroppy. Unfortunately, I then ruined things by acting progressively more sycophantic through the rest of the conversation. But McFadden was understanding about that for the first few minutes. In any case, some degree of sycophancy was called for, as I had two favors to ask of him. The first was would he distribute copies of this Gazette to his fellow backstage Walfordites.
"I'll do that," said McFadden. "But we already have it slipped under our dressing room doors. It's very popular here on the set."
My heart began singing again. This time it was definitely the 'Victory' theme from Chariots Of Fire.
I then asked McFadden for an interview.
"I don't usually do interviews," he replied. "I've had some bad experiences with English newspapers. I really just called to tell you that I like your paper."
Somehow I got him to change his mind, but only on condition I fax him the interview in advance of publication for his approval.
It immediately occurred to me that this was how Phil Mitchell would have responded to a similar request. I mean, let's fantasize for a moment: If I were to ask Frank Butcher for an interview, he probably would take me to lunch and tell me more of his life story than I would care to know. By contrast, Grant Mitchell would say 'No f-----g way!' in a tone that implied violence.
But Phil Mitchell would carefully weigh the odds and demand to see the interview before it went into print. There is obviously a great deal of Steve McFadden in Phil Mitchell and vice versa.
"The trouble with interviews," he said, "is that implicitly you lie."
"Isn't that equally true of acting?" I asked.
"Yes, but at least you get to read a script."
I then mentioned Hilary Kingsley's EastEnders Handbook, which states that McFadden and Ross Kemp (who plays Grant Mitchell) regularly have portions of their heads shaved to create identical male-pattern baldness, so they will look like brothers.
McFadden laughed at that in a tone of friendly sibling rivalry. "Me and Ross have the same hairdresser," he explained "and she says that I have much more hair than he does. She didn't say that just because she likes me better than Ross. I really do have more hair."

"What do you like best about EastEnders?"

"Its realism. Tough guys in the movies and on other shows just act tough. But, on EastEnders, they also show the softer side of Phil, the whole 360 degrees. After a robbery, you see him go home, head for the loo and do some washing-up."

"When you were younger, which actors were your role models?"

"Anthony Hopkins, Maggie Smith, Maggie Steed and, of course, Brando."

"Is there any element of Brando in your portrayal of Phil Mitchell?"

"I think more Fred Astaire."

"Who are Phil Mitchell's favorite actors?"

"The comedy star, George Coe, plus Phil is a big fan of Liz Taylor."

"Were you given a 'biography' of Phil to work from when you started on EastEnders?"

"Yes, and it was quite interesting. It said that Phil's politics are to the left of the Socialist Worker's Party and to the right of The National Front. That sort of left me playing an anarchist."

"Does the work schedule on EastEnders leave you time for any other acting jobs?"

"No time at all."

"How do you feel about the increased workload of three episodes per week, rather than two?"

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is just to do or die..."

At this point, McFadden began having a conversation with someone at his end of the line and asked if we could finish the interview. My natural sympathy then got out of hand. The Glossary calls this 'Giving him the old flannel.'

"Listen, " I said, "thanks for the interview...I can't speak for my readers, but there's a lot of people in North America who consider EastEnders a terrific program..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." said McFadden, in a tone that sounded more annoyed than Beatle-ish. "Have a nice week, Dan, and fax me the copy."

Oh well. I guess I didn't do very well on my first test of Walford Macho. Then again, it has often taken me awhile to get the hang of certain skills. Bicycle riding, for example. (Several other analogies also come to mind.)
But I intend to work on this and be less sycophantic in future conversations with Walfordites.
In fact, if Ross Kemp ever grants me an interview I'll verbally knock him into a cocked hat!

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