EastEnders star Annette Badland has revealed that her villainous role on the soap led to her living in fear, following death threats. The 74-year-old portrayed Mick Carter's (Danny Dyer) wicked aunt, who committed a string of crimes including baby farming, blackmail and leaving her sister Sylvie (Linda Marlowe) for dead.
Reflecting on her time on the show, the actress admitted that while she enjoyed playing the character, some viewers took their hatred for Aunt Babe too far by sending her "disturbing" messages. Speaking to Reach PLC, she said: "It's always good to place villains, it's intriguing though it has its consequences in a soap because I did get death threats at the end.
"It's very disturbing that people can't divide between your character and yourself, they don't know you're acting. It subsided after about a month, but the security at the Beeb got involved, the police, they were saying, 'Don't tell anyone where you're going, don't go out too much', don't do this, don't do that."
Annette added: "It was a bit scary to begin with, they could trace some of it but it was [on] public computers, so they couldn't get anywhere specific, but it subsided."
The actress confessed that while she lived in fear initially, she later viewed the messages as "a compliment" about how well she played the evil character. The actress left the soap in 2017 in what she claims was a sudden departure, due to a year-long storyline being scrapped at short notice.
Despite this, Annette hasn't dismissed the idea of a comeback if it suits her character, adding: "I'd go for a storyline or something, I don't know [if] I'd commit for an indefinite period, but you know, you never know. It depends what they come up with."
Regarding her departed on-screen son Danny, she playfully hinted: "My boy is dead now, Danny," then chuckled: "Or is he?!".
For now, fans can see Annette in the fresh comedy-drama Portraits of Dangerous Women, which follows the journey of three strangers whose lives entangle after a peculiar road mishap.
Opting not to get the cops involved, the crew deal with the consequences on their own and go on to form unexpected bonds.
Annette said she was captivated by the role because "it isn't normal" and "doesn't follow an ordinary track". She added: "I [also] liked that it's about women, you know, I support that."
Additionally, she was attracted to the film's unique storytelling and humour. "There is a great deal of humour in it and good story-telling and good character relationships," she added.
"I quite like that it's not so linear how most things are, you know it takes strange little corners, that's always very interesting I think."
English (US) ·