Return of Ronnie Mitchell feels like a new character
Samantha Womack is playing a "darker" Ronnie Mitchell.
The 'EastEnders' actress, who returned to the BBC One soap after a two-year absence feels like she is playing a brand new character because her alter-ego has taken a dark turn since returning to Walford after serving two years in prison for abducting Kat and Alfie Moon's baby.
She told reporters: "I'm playing a darker character now. It's a bit weird. It's coming at her from a different angle, but I hope people still love her."
Viewers recently saw Ronnie murder the nefarious Carl White (Daniel Coonan) - who had been wooing her sister Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) - and Samantha admits the dramatic scenes have been an interesting challenge.
She explained: "It's strange coming back with such a big storyline and being a different character, but at the same time, it's like coming back to family ... they're all my family, they genuinely are. Even when you're dealing with a difficult storyline and it feels really weird and out of the normal, that's cool creatively. I'm embracing it."
The 41-year-old actress also reveals she is missing her former on-screen husband Scott Maslen (Jack Branning), who quit the soap last year, but is enjoying her character's evolution.
She added: "It is weird [without him], but in a funny way, she's kind of taking on a new identity and that's quite interesting. I was there for six, seven, years, so she feels different. She's dressing differently, she's speaking differently ... it's weird."
