Michelle Collins is always searching for "slightly more challenging" roles to "reinvent herself".
The former ‘EastEnders’ actress tries to take on varied parts to avoid being typecast, but everyone knows her from the BBC One soap and ‘Coronation Street’.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’, she said: "Sometimes as an actor you want to sort play lots of other different things.
"One does get typecast I suppose and I have this face that everyone thinks that they know.
"Everyone thinks that they know you, so you always want to do something that’s slightly more challenging where you reinvent yourself."
The 58-year-old actress recently admitted she gets recognised on a daily basis from her ‘EastEnders’ days as Cindy Beale – who she played from 1988 to 1998 – and believes the character has such a great fanbase because she was no-nonsense.
She said: "When I went into ‘Corrie’, it brought the whole ‘EastEnders’ thing back again.
"Not a day goes by without people shouting ‘Cindy!’ in the street.
"People loved her because she behaved in a way that women didn’t behave on TV then."
Michelle advises young actors to take on a soap role but not to stay "too long".
She said: "I tell young people who I mentor, maybe do a soap, but don’t stay too long.
"It’s great grounding for learning your craft, learning lines quickly and knowing how to behave on set."
But last year, Michelle admitted she would stay in ‘Coronation Street’ "forever" if she did ever return to the cobbles.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "Never say never, but I wouldn’t go back at the moment.
"I like doing different things. I’m a bit of a chameleon and I think if I went back I would probably stay forever.
"So not yet, not yet."
Michelle Collins always keen to ‘reinvent herself’ from to avoid typecasting
