Eastenders is one of the UK's great soaps. It has been running since 1985, and so many actors have starred in the show. Some more memorable than others, and some that may surprise you... Here are the Eastenders stars you may have forgotten about!
Tom Ellis is most known nowadays for his role in Lucifer, and he is known for being a swoon-worthy Hollywood star. You may even remember him in BBC's Miranda, along with Miranda Hart. However, you've probably forgotten that he was in Eastenders before all of that, playing Doctor Oliver Cousins for part of 2006.
Tiana Benjamin played Chelsea Fox in Eastenders from 2006 to 2010. She left the Harry Potter franchise for the role! She left the soap to try out different roles and "avoid being typecast". Since then, she has appeared in films such as Fast Girls and The Creatress.
Kara Tointon played Dawn Swann, Mickey Miller's sister (played by Joe Swash). She was written out in 2009 alongside Ricky Groves, who played Gary Hobbs. She went on to get to the Strictly Come Dancing final in 2010. She has since gone on to perform in West End productions such as Pygmallion and Relatively Talking.
Nigel Harman played Dirty Den's son Dennis, appearing in some controversial storylines, such as having an affair with adoptive sister, Sharon. He left Eastenders as he felt his character "had nothing left to do". He then went on to perform in theatre in productions such as Guys and Dolls and I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical, playing Simon Cowell.
Ricky Groves played the adorable Gary Hobbs from 2000 to 2009. He was written out of Eastenders at the same time as Kara Tointon (Dawn Swann), after their characters finally got together. Since then, he's done two reality TV shows, but he hasn't been on our screens acting.
Jack Ryder played Phil Mitchell's son Jamie Mitchell from 1998 to 2002. He has performed in a few plays since his departure from the BBC soap, such as The Safari Party and Calendar Girls. He also became the director of The Full Monty.
Don Gilet played bad guy Lucas Johnson from 2008 to 2010 before coming back in 2015 and in 2022. Fun fact - he appeared in Gabrielle's Out of Reach video. Since his first departure from the show, he has starred in Holby City and in theatre productions of As You Like It and The Alchemist.
Brooke Kinsella played Kelly Taylor from 2001 and 2004. She now runs her own drama school called True Stars Academy. Her family became national news after her half-brother Ben was murdered, and she has become an anti-knife crime campaigner.
Christopher Parker played Alfie Moon's (Shane Richie) younger brother, Spencer. After his departure from the soap in 2005, he presented CD:UK and presented several times on CBBC. He then went back to school to study law, and he is a law consultant at Ignition Law.
Nicola Stapleton played Mandy Salter in 1992, and came back in 1994 and again in 2011. She has appeared in other TV dramas such as The Bill and Casualty. She also appeared in the prison drama, Bad Girls. She has also done voice-overs for the video game, Assassin's Creed Syndicate.
Robert Kazinsky played Sean Slater, Stacey Slater's brother, in the BBC soap. Since then, he has moved onto bigger roles including HBO's True Blood, Warcraft and Second Chance. He was also supposed to be a part of The Hobbit movie, but couldn't due to health reasons.
You may recognize Ben Hardy from several recent movies, but did you know he was in Eastenders? He played Peter Beale from 2013 to 2015, being a huge part of the Lucy Beale "whodunnit" storyline. Since then, he has taken Hollywood by storm by appearing in X-Men: Apolocalypse, and he played Roger Taylor in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Ace Bhatti played vilain Yusef Khan in Eastenders from 2010 to 2011. You may also recognize him from The Sarah Jane Adventures and Bend It Like Beckham. More recently, he appeared in Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, playing Freddie Mercury's father Bomi Bulsara.
Sophie Thompson played Stella Crawford, Phil Mitchell's love interest, from 2006 to 2007. Her experience also includes Four Weddings and a Funeral and Eat, Pray, Love. Since then, she has played in several theatre productions and also had a minor role in Coronation Street in 2018.
Martin Kemp, as well as being part of Spandau Ballet, played Steve Owen for five years. He left Eastenders after he thought "his time was up". More recently, he had his own Sunday breakfast programme, Martin & Roman's Sunday Best! with his son Roman.
Kellie Shirley played Shirley Carter and Phil Wicks' daughter, Carly, in the BBC soap from 2006 to 2008. Nowadays, she is most known for playing Kirsty De La Croix in the Sky comedy series In The Long Run with Idris Elba. She also had a minor role in The Office.
Ricky Norwood played Arthur Chubbs, otherwise known as Fat Boy, in Eastenders from 2010 to 2015. After controversial videos of him surfaced online, he was suspended before being axed completely from the show. In 2016, he appeared in Celebrity Big Brother, and came second after Stephen Bear.
Lauren Crace played Danielle Jones, Ronnie Mitchell's long-lost daughter from 2008 to 2009. Since then, she has appeared in the BBC series Sherlock and in ITV drama Mr. Selfridge. In 2021, she had a minor role in Casualty playing Chrissie.
Melissa Suffield played Lucy Beale from 2004 to 2010. In 2010, it was announced that Melissa was axed from the BBC soap for her "unruly behaviour", and was replaced by Hetti Bywater in 2012. Since then, she had the titular role in Norma Jean in 2015, and acted and directed in a pantomime in Sittingbourne.
You probably recognize Mimi from Sex Education, playing Ruby Matthews. But did you know she was once in Eastenders? She played Cindy Williams from 2013 to 2015, and left at the end of the Lucy Beale storyline. She has also played the younger version of Edith Tolkien in Tolkien and has appeared in the movie Close.
