Matt Di Angelo has opened up about what it's like to play EastEnders villain Dean Wicks, admitting that the role has been "a lot of fun".
Since returning to the soap in 2014 after six years away, Dean has gone down a dark route that's included him raping his sister-in-law Linda Carter.
Asked on Lorraine what it's like to play a character with "not many redeeming qualities", Di Angelo said: "He's a bad person... You can't make excuses for him.
"But it's kind of my job to find out what he's thinking, and why he's doing these things, and [you] kind of put yourself in the mindset of that person, and that person - the natural thing would be to justify what you do... but obviously he is a bad character."
He added of playing Dean: "To be honest, it's a lot of fun. It's what I want to do for a living... [Baddies are] the most interesting characters.
"I could quite easily have gone back to EastEnders and just propped up the bar for a year and cashed my cheque and then done one, but I took something on, I got my teeth into a part, and I really enjoyed it, and I'm really grateful to everyone for having me back."
Talking about the expense of the upcoming New Year's Day underwater stunt, he said: "They spent a lot of lot of (sic) money on the episode.We shot stuff over at Pinewood, we were in the underwater tank where they did James Bond, we were on loads of different locations... they were using cranes and steadicams.
"You know, usually you're in the Vic and you've got five cameras just like you do in this studio, and that's it... They really pushed the boat out, pardon the pun."
And asked about whether fame has caused problems for him, he said: "If you're in this business, I think you know, if you want the attention, you're gonna get it. If you wanna be in the magazines, if you wanna cash in, 10 grand for an interview, you're gonna get people following you about, taking photographs of you.
"I tried to steer, as much as I could, away from it... and it's worked well for me. I'm not seen at certain places, and I don't want anything from them, and in turn they don't want anything from me... No one follows me about, it's lovely. I think you can get away from it if you want."
He also laughed about celebrities being photographed on the beach, joking: "Oh, they caught me off-guard on the beach, I didn't see you there with your big lens... it's a set-up thing!
"I'm not interested in being a celebrity, you know, I just want to be an actor, and I want to be a good actor."
Di Angelo takes centre stage in EastEnders' dramatic underwater fight today (January 1, 2016) at 6.30pm and 8pm on BBC One.
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