Natalie Cassidy: I grew up on EastEnders before I knew what fame was
4/3/202657 min
From a childhood in Islington to more than three decades on one of Britain’s biggest television shows, Natalie Cassidy’s life has unfolded in public for almost as long as she can remember.
In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with the actor to trace a journey that began in a close-knit working-class family, took shape at the Anna Scher Theatre, and changed forever when she was cast in EastEnders at just ten years old.
Natalie reflects on growing up surrounded by adults, losing the privacy her parents had valued, and navigating fame before she was old enough to understand what it meant. She speaks movingly about family, grief and guilt, the loss of her mother at nineteen, and the grounding influence of the women who helped shape her, from Wendy Richard and Barbara Windsor to the incomparable June Brown.
They discuss the strange psychology of child stardom, the realities of soap acting, and the courage it took to step away from a role that had defined her for so long. Along the way, Natalie talks with warmth and honesty about money, motherhood, class, friendship, ambition and the need, now, to be brave enough to try something new.
Funny, candid and deeply perceptive, this is a conversation about identity, resilience and what it means to build a life when the whole country thinks it already knows who you are.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJames O'Brien· Host0:00
[upbeat jingle] This is a Global Player original podcast. [upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to Full Disclosure, a podcast project conceived entirely to let me spend more time with interesting people than I would ever get on the radio. Natalie Cassidy, welcome.
Natalie Cassidy· Guest0:23
Why have you got me on, then?
James O'Brien· Host0:24
Well, don't be ridiculous. [laughing] You, you must be one of the most recognized people of your age in the country- Yeah ... I reckon.
Natalie Cassidy· Guest0:31
You're probably right, actually. It's a strange thing, isn't it?
James O'Brien· Host0:33
It is a very strange thing. We will begin at the beginning- Mm-hmm ... which was in Islington, in, in North London in 1983. Let me be the millionth interviewer to observe that you came along after the family was pretty well established. Both of your brothers are quite a lot older than you.
Natalie Cassidy· Guest0:48
That's right, yeah. David, he's 60, and, uh, Tony's 57. So Mom and Dad had their two boys, 15 and 18, and Mum decided that she felt quite alone, I think, and wanted someone else to care for. And then, uh, I came along.
James O'Brien· Host1:03
Um, Dad was a newsagent, I think- That's right ... when you were born. So he had a little shop in Islington.
Natalie Cassidy· Guest1:09
Yeah, that's right.
James O'Brien· Host1:10
That's every- In John Street. That's every child's dream that, isn't it?
Natalie Cassidy· Guest1:12
It was great. I used to- You could just go in and help yourself. Uh, I did, but also on a Saturday morning, I used to get up at 4:00 a.m. with him and go down to the shop and help him. I used to really, really enjoy it, actually.
James O'Brien· Host1:22
And get the papers.
Natalie Cassidy· Guest1:23
Papers.
James O'Brien· Host1:24
Early deliveries.
Natalie Cassidy· Guest1:25
All the magazines back then.
James O'Brien· Host1:26
And what did Mum do?
Natalie Cassidy· Guest1:27
When Prim was popular. Mum was a housewife and a carer