Richard Blackwood was considered a "bit of a laughing stock" before landing a role in ‘EastEnders’.
The 45-year-old actor played Vincent Hubbard in the BBC One soap for three years until he departed the role last month, and he is "proud" he has managed to get his career back on track after he "fell from grace".
He said: "I look at myself now and where I’ve built my name back to, and it allows me to be proud that I came back from a place where my name was blacklisted.
"People were not booking me for stuff. I was, ‘a bit of a laughing stock at times’, they’d say ‘Richard, is he still around?’
"So to know that you fell from grace to the point where people are saying, ‘Don’t leave EastEnders,’ and, ‘We’re looking forward to your film.’
"I’m now glad I went through that because at that time if you said, ‘Do you think Richard’s going to be a star?’ They’d be like, ‘Nah, it’s over,’ and at that time rightly so.
"Even me, even though I had a lot of belief, there were moments when I thought I don’t know if I’m going to come back from this."
Richard has also admitted he would be up for starring in one of EastEnders’ rival soaps, and after unexpectedly landing a part in the London-based show he is determined not to "rule anything out" in the future.
He added to The Sun Online: "I never say never. Years ago I never thought I’d be on ‘EastEnders’.
"Not that I didn’t want to do it, I just didn’t believe it was my career path.
"You might think you have the plan but there’s a bigger plan happening for you and sometimes you’ve just got to roll with the punches and that’s what I’m learning to do. I would never rule anything out."
Richard recently said he was "surprised" his ‘EastEnders’ contract wasn’t renewed for another year.
He explained: "I was a little bit surprised, but my agent and myself wanted me to leave at a similar time, so it worked out to be mutual.
"The timing couldn’t have been better. It’s a great platform and it’s regular work, which in the world of acting is a great feeling.
"To leave that is always a scary thing but we believed and knew that we have enough.
"I have a lot of respect for ‘EastEnders’ – they took the risk when they cast me."
Richard Blackwood: I was a laughing stock before EastEnders
