Charlie Brooks Extends EastEnders Contract

EastEnders‘ actress Charlie Brooks who recently returned to the BBC1 soap has signed up to star as her character Janine for another year.
Brooks left EastEnders in 2004 to “pursue other projects” and announced she was pregnant shortly afterwards. She was initially tempted back to to the show in early 2008 for a special week’s worth of episodes dubbed Frank Week which saw the funeral of her on screen father Frank Butcher (the late Mike Reid) take place.

It was announced shortly after Charlie’s Frank Week stint that show bosses were keen for Charlie to make a full-time return to the soap and it was soon announced that Charlie was on board and would be making a permanent comeback as Walford’s resident schemer Janine later in the year. Janine returned to EastEnders in December 2008, still up to her old tricks again she was caught marrying a rich elderly Jewish man for his money.

It has now been announced that Brooks has signed another one year contract which means she is expected to stay with the Walford-based soap until at least the end of 2010.

Speaking about life back in the show, the 27-year-old actress revealed in an interview with The Sunday Mirror “I thought fuck it, let’s do it, the time is right. I had doubts to begin with, mainly because of Kiki [Charlie’s daughter], as I know how full-on EastEnders can be, and then there’s that stigma about going back to a soap. But I’m so pleased I did, it was the right decision. Especially with what’s going on at the moment, I feel really lucky to have a job and I need the security because of Kiki. I was just going to go back for a year, but I had a meeting with the boss last week and we’re going to go for another year. So lots more time to get up to much mischief”

“There were only about 10 people out of a cast of 52 who I had worked with before. When I’d been back there for two months, I still hadn’t met half the cast but it doesn’t take long. There’s a lovely atmosphere there, it’s a nice place to be. And other than the cast, everything is exactly the same, all the props boys and camera men behind the scenes, their bellies have grown and they’ve got a few more wrinkles, but that’s all that’s changed. And I’m a little bit more grown-up and more comfortable in my own skin, so I’m able to enjoy it more.”

“I’d like to explore the vulnerable side of Janine. Not that I want her to sit there and be all, “Poor me, I’ve had a hard life, this is why I’m a vile person,” but I think there are moments we could see a deeper side to her.”