AFTER scooping her first National Television Award 13 years ago for best newcomer, soap siren Jacqueline Jossa is proud to be nominated once again – this time for best dramatic performance.
The EastEnders actress, 32, who has played Albert Square’s bolshy Lauren Branning for 15 years, is up against fellow Albert Square veteran Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell.
Jacqueline Jossa is proud to be nominated once again for a National Television Award[/caption]
Jacqueline has had a dramatic run in EastEnders[/caption]
And she is actually hoping fans vote for him to win over her.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, Jacqueline opens up about UK TV’s glitziest awards do next week and her milestone year on the BBC One soap.
She said: “There is no rivalry between Steve and I whatsoever, I surrender to him. I’ve always looked up to Steve and I feel like he really deserves it. I’ll be chuffed if he wins — there is no competition between us.”
“I’ve not once thought about winning at all, I think it’s Steve’s night and we’ll be celebrating either way. I’ll be celebrating by going, as to even be nominated is amazing, and we get to all be together.
“Honestly, I was really shocked to be nominated. I won Best Newcomer in 2012, but I haven’t been up for anything since at the NTAs, so I was really surprised to be on the shortlist.”
The cast will be out in full on Wednesday as the soap is also nominated for Best Serial Drama, after losing out last year to ITV rival Emmerdale.
Jacqueline said: “It’s amazing to have so many EastEnders nominations. It means we’re heading in the right direction.
“It’s a rare occasion that the cast get glammed up together. A lot goes on behind the scenes to get it all ready.
‘Slightly nervous’
“I’ve not even thought about what I’m wearing as I’ve just got back from holiday and am straight back into learning scripts. At least I won’t need a spray tan as I have a holiday glow.”
Mum-of-two Jacqueline, who was snapped on a family break in Gran Canaria last month with hubby Dan Osbourne, made a triumphant return to the screen last year after a five-year hiatus — and she has had plenty to get her teeth into.
Her character Lauren has battled alcoholism and given birth to a son with sight difficulties. She is also set to walk down the aisle.
But playing the car dealer has become second nature to Jacqueline.
She said: “I just love her, honestly. I don’t have to think about playing Lauren too much. I can tap into her emotions really quickly.
“It’s a very rare, weird, strange old thing, this job. To play a character for 15 years is odd, but she seems real to me.”
Jacqueline is still inundated with people approaching her in the street about various storylines that have touched them.
Her Christmas Day scenes from 2017, which saw Lauren and sister Abi fall from the roof of the Queen Vic pub, ending in Abi’s death, still generate a lot of chatter.
I just love her, honestly. I don’t have to think about playing Lauren too much. I can tap into her emotions really quickly
Jacqueline Jossa
Jacqueline said: “I still talk about Abi dying like she was a real person. It was devastating to me, like a real loss. I get lots of chat about that fall and, more recently, I get people talking to me about my character being an alcoholic.”
Lauren’s moving storyline about giving birth to baby Jimmy with sight loss was a challenging but rewarding storyline.
She said: “It was incredible. When I was first told we were doing this, I was slightly nervous. I just wanted to do a good job, because when you get given such a big story it needs to be told well.
“No one put pressure on me. I put it on myself. But then as soon as I got the script it was all written so well. You know and love these characters, so it’s easy to tap into and I know how Lauren would feel if this was happening.
“I have kids too, so it was easy to draw on emotions. I actually loved filming it, I loved working with all the babies. I think it was a beautiful story, told in quite a positive way, so I’m really proud of it. So the nomination feels like a nod to it.
“That’s why it’s important EastEnders does these hard-hitting storylines. These are things that are tough to just talk about, but when you watch something on TV it brings up conversations. That’s what storytelling is all about.”
Jacqueline said: ‘I don’t have to think about playing Lauren too much. I can tap into her emotions really quickly’[/caption]
Phil Mitchell actor Steve is also up for an NTA award on Wednesday[/caption]
Despite her long experience on the streets of Walford, Jacqueline admits she still has pinch-me moments.
She said: “It’s so fun working on a soap. Every week is different — you never know what’s coming next, and nothing is ever easy. Sometimes I still get nervous ordering a coffee in the cafe, truly.
“Sometimes it just takes over and I think, ‘Oh my God, I’m in EastEnders in the cafe and I’m going to drop my coffee’. It’s just too much, I’m constantly learning. There’s always something to challenge yourself with.”
The Sun on Sunday exclusively revealed earlier this year that Jake Wood, who plays Lauren’s dad Max Branning, was making a shock return to the soap after seven years.
And Jacqueline revealed Jake rang her specially to tell her.
She said: “I had heard through the grapevine that something was going on with Jake and then I refused to believe it as I didn’t want to be disappointed if it wasn’t happening. I was panicking and prepared for the worst — that my dream wasn’t going to come true.
Sometimes it just takes over and I think, ‘Oh my God, I’m in EastEnders in the cafe and I’m going to drop my coffee’. It’s just too much, I’m constantly learning. There’s always something to challenge yourself with
Jacqueline Jossa
“Then Jake called because he wanted to be the one to tell me. He had always said, ‘If I ever come back, you will be the first to know’. So he called me and was like, ‘I’m going home, baby’.
“I screamed. I was so excited and the scripts did not disappoint.
“We hadn’t been on screen for seven years, but acting together it felt like no time had gone by. It was just a really incredible experience.”
Jacqueline also told how both Jake and her use fragrances to help them get into character.
She revealed: “Jake always used to wear an aftershave when he was playing Max, so when he was back on set I smelled him before I saw him — no word of a lie!
“It instantly took me back and I said, ‘Oh my God, Jake Wood’s here’. I was banging on his dressing room door saying, ‘I can smell you’.
“He has a very specific smell, and he would never wear it as Jake, only as Max. I also wear a perfume to play Lauren, I can’t reveal what it is, but it helps me get into character.”
Jacqueline also said she rarely wears black, as it reminds her too much of Lauren.
It even left her struggling to dress for a funeral recently.
She explained: “The costume team and I have certain colours for Lauren — black, red, dark purple.
Shock return
“I went to a funeral recently and I was wearing a black leather jacket, black dress and boots and I felt like I was doing a personal appearance as Lauren at the funeral.
“It was all wrong so I had to wear a pastel coat, I just looked too much like Lauren. Everybody on EastEnders always knows when we are in costume and when we are not.”
Jacqueline was left starstruck when she met Michelle Ryan on set as she made a shock return as Zoe Slater after two decades.
There is no rivalry between Steve and I whatsoever, I surrender to him. I’ve always looked up to Steve and I feel like he really deserves it. I’ll be chuffed if he wins — there is no competition between us
Jacqueline Jossa
She said: “For me, Michelle’s comeback was massive. She was one of the first people I saw on screen and I thought, ‘I want to do that when I’m older’.
“So to have Michelle back is like a dream, and I was so excited. I had never met her. I was so starstruck and I’m still a little bit weird with her, to be honest — I still can’t look her in the eye properly, she’s just so iconic.”
Asked if she is ever nervous reading the scripts to discover her character’s fate, Jacqueline explained that sensitive bosses would always discuss a fatality in advance.
She revealed: “We wouldn’t ever find out we were being killed off in a script anyway. You’d never open a page and read, ‘And then she died’.
“Everyone has an expiration date. We are all here to tell stories, but, saying that, I like to stay away from the roof of the Vic, just to be on the safe side.”
- To cast your vote for the NTAs, go to nationaltvawards.com.
HER 15 YEARS OF TURMOIL
JACQUELINE was the second actress to play Lauren, as the character was recast in her teens – and she was immediately handed some meaty storylines, including developing a secret relationship with her own cousin.
In 2015, Lauren gave birth to her first son Louie – whose father is Peter Beale – before embarking on a relationship with Peter’s brother, Steven.
Two years later, she had a secret abortion after falling pregnant with Steven’s child.
After the termination was exposed, her angry boyfriend found solace with her sister Abi, and the two continued a sordid affair.
After Steven died in a fire, Abi met her end when the sisters fell off the Queen Vic roof in 2017, having talked their dad, Max, out of committing suicide.
Lauren then left Walford shortly after attending her sister’s funeral.
After a brief spell back on the Square to attend Dot Branning’s burial in December 2022, she made her full-time return in 2024 alongside cousin Penny, who unbeknown to her was a secret drugs mule.
Lauren later got back together with Peter and fell pregnant, much to the frustration of his mum, Cindy Beale, who supplied Lauren with drugs.
Their baby Jimmy was born blind and Peter blamed Lauren’s drug-taking, sparking her to fall for the charms of Zack Hudson.
But despite having an affair, she chose to remain with Peter in their new family home, which was Dot’s old house.