Michael Greco, who played Beppe di Marco on EastEnders from 1998 to 2002, has spoken out about how hard it is for actors to “churn out” scenes for popular soaps.
Michael, 54, who went on to become a successful poker player after he left EastEnders, winning more than £1 million, told Fruity Slots in an interview that “it’s a really tough life” as a soap actor, where three to four episodes have to be filmed in one week. “It’s hard work and people don’t realise that soap actors are great because they work constantly,” he said. “They do a long shift, continuously doing scene after scene after scene, and then they have to go home and learn their lines for the next day, which is like homework.”
“I really do think soap actors, from past and present, don’t get enough credit for their ability to churn out from day to day,” he said. “They don’t give soap actors enough credit, especially the older generation actors who probably should be retiring and want to put their feet up.”
The actor joined the EastEnders cast in 1998, playing Beppe, a police officer who arrived in Albert Square with his family but soon became a sworn enemy of Grant Mitchell. He even tried to frame Grant for Tiffany Mitchell’s murder, before later leaving the Square to attend his mother’s funeral, an outing from which he never returned.
Michael says of his time on the soap: “I had a lot of lines and dialogue on EastEnders, so I didn’t really have a social life. I never went out. Sometimes you’d have 25 scenes a day. Say you got home at 6pm or 7pm, you were knackered, mentally and physically exhausted, then you’d be trying to learn your lines for the following day. Learning lines when you’re tired is difficult, it doesn’t go in. It’s a really tough life.”
He does have happy memories of his time on EastEnders, however, especially as he appeared alongside soap legends including June Brown (who played Dot Cotton), Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler) and Mike Reid (Frank Butcher).
“Those were the kids of people I watched on telly,” he said. “I was a huge Carry On fanatic and still am, and actually working with them and sitting in the green room, and having a cup of tea with them, you can imagine how great and surreal that was. I used to play golf with Mike Reid and we’d chat about certain things on the golf course – he was a hilarious man. June Brown was just the most unbelievably lovely woman, who had the most time for everyone. Having that time around people, who so many people recognised, I’m incredibly lucky.”
After leaving EastEnders, Michael spent six years playing poker at major tournaments, and had a great deal of success doing it. “I remember when I won $250,000 one day, I put it in my rucksack and walked to my hotel, which was literally just across the road. This was during the day but I was watching everywhere in case I thought someone was going to follow me,” he said.
“I was walking out of the casino but I was paranoid in case anyone had seen me with that amount of money, so I sprinted to the hotel room and put it in my safe.”
The actor, who became a dad in 2021 at the age of 51 and now has two children, has settled into a more stable lifestyle in recent years. “I was earning good money, I had a great lifestyle, it was really good fun. Then I got bored of poker. I wanted to get back to what I loved doing, which was acting.”
He hasn’t ruled out a return to the soap that made his name, either. The star, who appeared on Celebrity Love Island in 2005, said last year: “I wouldn’t say no, because I live 20 minutes up the road from the studios. Also because it was a great show and five of the best years of my life. They’ve not asked me back yet but if they did, I would take the call.”
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