| BBC Choice Interview |
| 1st March 2002 |
| Interviewer: Could you tell me Martin about when you first heard about the part that was going on Eastenders? Martin: Ah, you know, I was thrilled to be honest, I mean Eastenders, I was the same as every other guy in Britain, you have grown up with that show, it’s part of my life. I remember being in Spandau Ballet and the most exciting point of the week when we used to be on tour was having all these Eastenders tapes flown over to where ever we were in the world and that was our big point of the week, Friday nights, having these Eastenders tapes played and the chinese takeaway, and that for us was Rock and Roll. Int: So you had the phone call to say you are in, you got it! Did you celebrate? Martin: It was the most pressure I’ve had in my life about doing a job, because this programme represents so much to so many people, and it represents so much to my family that live in Islington. So they were all phoning me up saying “So you are on Eastenders then!” and all of a sudden this pressure was appearing , you know, you are in their favourite programme and you’ve got to make a good job of it. Int: What was it like to first walk onto Albert Square? Martin: So scary, so scary. One of the scariest moments ever and my first scene was very small. I think I was working with Joe Absolum who played Matthew and I was handing over some money and my hands were shaking when I did that. |
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| Martin: To walk on the set, the set is bigger than anything. It’s bigger than any of the characters amd it’s like walking into your TV and all this thing comes to life, and it’s not just the visual side it’s the audio side, it’s hearing Dot Cotton’s voice! |
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| Martin: I love doing it, there is nothing like playing the bad guy, in fact playing the good guy is kind of boring after you do the bad guy. Int: You were in a run of the bad guys. Were you conscious of playing it differently to people like Ross Kemp and Dirty Den and people like that? Martin: No, not really. I’d just come off the back of playing Reggie Kray in the Kray twin movie, and so, I think, used lots of that and the characters that were surrounding that film, I took with me, and that became part of Steve Owen. Int: And also the style of Steve Owen as well ‘cause he is the best dressed man on The Square. Is that like you going “Come on, give us some suits to wear.’? Martin: I always felt guilty, you know, everyone else had a budget of about twenty quid and I was walking around in Armani. Int: The Saskia story came in almost immediately that you joined. The press went mad for it, didn’t they? Were you surprised at the reaction of the press and the public? Martin: Yeah, I thought I knew what was coming. Even when I first joined and they said you won’t believe this, this show is bigger than anything you have seen, it’s bigger than anything you have ever done, and I said , no I’ve been on a pop band, I know what’s big! |
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| Martin: After the Saskia murder when we were doing the trial between Steve and Matthew, and that thing just took over the nation, a lot of the old women used to hate me, they called me every name under the sun in the shops, and it was fun. But all the guys used to love me, all the pub boys ‘Oi Steve, good job you knocked that bird on the head.’ |
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