EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has revealed the moment that left her ‘in tears’ ahead of her impending exit from the programme.
It’s been a hectic period for Natalie’s character Sonia Fowler, who is struggling at home with her newborn Julia following the death of her daughter’s father Reiss Colwell last month.
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On top of this, Sonia is dealing with her sister Bianca Jackson deciding to make a podcast about everything her evil ex put them through.
Joining EastEnders back in 1993 as part of the popular Jackson family, Natalie won the hearts of the nation through her humour and trumpet playing skills.
Sadly for fans of the BBC soap, Sonia is expected to depart Albert Square in the coming weeks after Natalie confirmed earlier in the year that she would be pursuing new career opportunities.
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With her final scenes on the horizon, Natalie was tasked with delivering the closing monologue in the BBC soap’s recent 40th anniversary live episode.
Shortly after giving birth, Sonia told her daughter about the wonders of Albert Square as her former husband Martin Fowler passed away from injuries sustained in the Queen Vic explosion.
Recalling the challenge of filming the scene, Natalie told RadioTimes.com: “The live episode went like clockwork. I had the final voice-over at the end, which I felt very honoured about.
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EastEnders Natalie Cassidy is leaving the role of Sonia Fowler
“I cried when our producer Chris Clenshaw told me, I felt like that was something Dot would’ve done if June Brown was still with us.
“Sonia had just had her baby, which I handed to her real mum on the Vic interior set in the studio, then I got up, ran over to the ambulance, was handed a fake baby and got ready to do my monologue over the montage.”
In an effort to make sure no bloopers arrived at a time where there was no time for error, Natalie suggested having a monitor playing the scenes shown on screen to make sure her delivery was up to the task.
She explained: “I asked to have a monitor with the scenes playing in front of me while I did it, the same as what the director was watching being broadcast.
“I wanted to be able to overlay the words to the images with the correct tone and timing. It was quite a technical thing to do, and could’ve been distracting and almost taken me out of the scene in a way.
“I could’ve done it without the monitor but I asked our brilliant director, Lance Kneeshaw, if I could try it and he trusted me. Having the monitor really helped me visualise and hit each moment properly.”
Thankfully for Natalie, she got to have a ‘tiny goodbye scene’ with her co-star Steve McFadden, who plays the iconic Phil Mitchell on the show.
“He is incredible. I petitioned on Instagram that he should get a BAFTA. Steve is a friend and I’ve learnt a lot from him over the years, his work ethic is unbelievable.
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“Believe it or not, the most emotional scene from my last week is a very short one between Sonia and Phil. I love how they nod to their shared history. Because Sonia was in love with his late godson Jamie, there’s always a link between them.
“I was in tears when I read the lines. It was such a simple, tiny scene but it meant a lot. I’m glad I got to have that goodbye with Steve,” she said.
