Tim Burton is a 'massive fan' of one legendary EastEnders actor
Comedian Matt Lucas claimed to former EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy that the legendary filmmaker Tim Burton is a "massive fan" of one of her ex-soap co-stars.
Tim Burton is a "massive fan" of Steve McFadden.
Comedian Matt Lucas worked with the award-winning filmmaker on 2010's Alice in Wonderland and 2016's Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Matt claimed that Tim spoke with great enthusiasm about Steve - best known for playing hard man Phil Mitchell in EastEnders.
Matt asked Natalie Cassidy - who worked alongside Steve, 66, in the BBC soap, on and off, from 1993 until 2025 - on a recent episode of his and fellow comic David Walliams' Making a Scene podcast: "Do you know who is a massive fan of Steve McFadden?"
Natalie, 42, replied: "Who?"
Matt, 51, answered: "Tim Burton."
A surprised Natalie - who played National Health Service (NHS) nurse Sonia Fowler in EastEnders - responded: "Is he really?"
Matt - who played Tweedledee/Tweedledum in Tim's live-action Alice in Wonderland movies - continued: "Yeah, because I worked with Tim Burton, and he was really rhapsodizing about Steve McFadden."
David, 54, questioned: "Why doesn't he give Steve McFadden a job?"
Matt replied: "I don't know, maybe because he was busy at the time in EastEnders."
David joked: "He couldn't make himself available."
Natalie - who left EastEnders in April to pursue other projects - told Matt to ask Tim if he has a job for her.
She quipped: "If you see Tim Burton again, ask him if he's a fan of me because I'm up for a job."
David and Matt jokingly chimed in with: "And me - all of us."
Natalie suggested: "We could do something."
Addressing Tim, 67, directly, David quipped: "Tim, if you're watching, come on. Come on, you've got the dream team here."
The claim about Tim being a "massive fan" of Steve comes as Natalie hailed her former soap co-star as "one of the best actors in the UK".
She said: "I've seen a lot of actors come in to EastEnders, brilliant actors, character actors, theatre actors come in and after a couple of weeks, they say, 'I can't, it's too much, such hard work.'
"It's a real skill, and I think it's a shame, really, because it still gets looked down upon, whether you like it or not, soap acting, I think, soaps in general.
"But if you can go in and do work on over 14 scripts. So in the morning, you might be getting married and by the evening, you've got divorced and someone's died.
"You're working over that level of emotion all day long, and you've got to keep on top of it and know all of those lines and know who you're working with on different teams, on different locations.
"It's a skill. I always say that about Steve McFadden. Steve is, for me, one of the best actors in the UK.
"I think he's amazing."
