Aaron Sidwell never wants to do a soap again after he was allegedly "taken for granted" on ‘EastEnders’.
The 29-year-old actor – who played psycho Steven Beale in the long-running soap – was killed off last year after his alter ego died from smoke inhalation caused by a fire he started, but he has admitted he won’t be signing up to another show any time soon because he didn’t like the way he was treated during filming.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, he said: "I don’t want to do a soap again. It wasn’t a discipline I enjoyed. I mean, I admire the actors on there who are so instinctive that they can do it, but I was definitely ready to go. There was a lot of negativity around, and my storylines did meander for me. I also think the soap actors can sometimes get taken for granted too."
Aaron is now starring in the touring musical ‘Wicked’ and feels much more at home on stage than on screen because he gets to "push boundaries" and he feels there’s always a new skill he can develop.
He explained: "I always felt like I didn’t belong there quite as much as I do in a theatre environment. Doing theatre means you get to push boundaries a little more, and there’s always something new to discover."
Meanwhile, Aaron has made no secret of the fact he thought it was "odd" that producers had decided to kill off Steven but is pleased he went back because it allowed him to get enough money to buy a house.
He said recently: "At first I was gutted but I went back to ‘EastEnders’ because I wanted to buy a house and I’ve done that now. It feels like the right time to move on. I feel sorry for Adam Woodyatt, I think he’s still digesting the news. Killing off another one of his on-screen children seemed like an odd decision, but the writers assured us there’s a bigger picture. Time will tell if it was the right thing to do."
Aaron Sidwell won’t do a soap again
