Dean Gaffney wants to return to EastEnders too
Former EastEnders star Dean Gaffney showed himself to be a good sport last month with a launch of a new Marmite advert which brands him a 'forgotten' celebrity.
The actor, best known for his Walford role as Robbie Jackson, is seen performing a magic show in a working men's club when he is suddenly rescued by Marmite's Neglect Squad - who quickly get his career back on track.
Dean recently caught up with Digital Spy to chat about the light-hearted campaign, the chances of an EastEnders comeback and his experiences on reality TV.
Dean Gaffney gets rescued by Marmite in new ad
Why did you become involved in the Marmite campaign?
"Marmite first got into contact with me at the end of last year. They'd had an advert before where people were neglecting jars of Marmite in the back of their cupboards, so then they decided that they wanted to do one with - I use this word loosely - celebrities who had been neglected. It was very much tongue-in-cheek.
"I'd remembered seeing the first advert when it came out and I really enjoyed it as it was really funny and clever. When it came to this one, I thought that if you can't take the mick out of yourself then you're taking yourself too seriously. I've always been very self-deprecating. Like when I did Extras, as long as the audience are laughing with you rather than at you, why not?"
Did you have any input with how far you were willing to go with this idea?
"The nicest thing is that they had a storyboard for the advert, but they didn't have an actual script as such, so there was a lot of adlibbing from myself. When I turned up on the day to do the shoot, it was nice that the director said, 'Listen, all we really want you to do is be bad at magic as your career's taken a nose-dive'.
"That's tongue in cheek because my career hasn't. Even though I haven't been on telly much, it doesn't mean that I'm not working in the profession that I've chosen. I'm still surviving and keeping the wolves from the door, so it was a tongue in cheek way of looking at it.
"They said, 'Look, you've got free reign with this. Do what you want with it, just have fun with it'. The first part of the day was just me adlibbing magic tricks, and certainly when I've seen the finished article, it's nice to see a lot of my own work in the advert."
Are you pleased with the response? We've seen you retweeting quite a few positive comments!
"Twitter is such a hard one because I'm one of those people who hates people on there saying, 'I've just got this new job, I'm so excited but I can't really talk about it'. Really you haven't got a new job, you're just trying to make conversation for Twitter. So I'm not one of those people!
"When I retweet stuff, I'm not showing off - I'm trying to show that person some gratitude for giving a nice comment. Certainly we live in a country where trolling is very apparent, and my time on EastEnders and my career is very much a Marmite thing of you either love him or you hate him!
"My tweets are always good nine times out of ten, but then you'll always get a bad one. I felt that it was nice to retweet people who had actually taken the time to say, 'You know what? We actually like this advert'. Don't get me wrong, if someone doesn't like it, I'll still retweet it because you have to take the good with the bad.
"People in the business like Jake Wood and Natalie Cassidy did retweet it too. I think that's really nice because we're all in the same business and we all know how hard it can be. When you're up, you're up, and when you're not, you're not. I thought it was nice that they had taken the time to view it and give their comments."
Dean Gaffney's Marmite campaign
© Marmite
Dean Gaffney's Marmite campaign
What else have you been up to?
"I think if you're an athlete you should be in the gym and if you're an actor you should be on the stage. Since leaving EastEnders, I've been honing my craft and keeping myself alive in the profession that I've chosen with some nice plays.
"I've worked for Bill Kenwright doing a murder mystery Agatha Christie tour where I played a character with a mental illness. That was an interesting part to get my teeth into. I did a six-month stint in Calendar Girls, I did Extras and I'm A Celebrity. I've always been very fortunate to get by financially and do it in the career that I've chosen. I'm very thankful ultimately to EastEnders because they started that journey.
"I'm very good friends with Steve McFadden who plays Phil in EastEnders. When we go out, he's always saying that the good thing about me is that I've been out of EastEnders for nearly ten years, but I'm probably one of a small group of people who are still known for their real name. When me and Steve go out, he is always referred to as 'Phil Mitchell' and I'm always referred to as Dean Gaffney! He said that's quite a powerful tool that I've got, for whatever reason I've got that. It's why I've been asked to do this advert."
Your on-screen family are still in EastEnders, so do you think you might go back to your role as Robbie in the future?
"I'm sure there are former cast members who you wouldn't ask that question to, because their life support isn't there - their families aren't in the show. But with me, that question is always asked - would Robbie go back?
"I do feel that 2015 is the year of the comeback. As a viewer, I'm so pleased that they've asked Gillian Taylforth back because not only is she a lovely person, but she plays a great character. The three musketeers there - [executive producer] Dominic Treadwell-Collins, [story producer] Alex Lamb and [series producer] Sharon Batten - are changing the show and bringing it into the era that we're in now, with Twitter and all the rest of it. They're trying to make the show more vibrant and all about the families.
"Natalie Cassidy and Lindsey Coulson are two of the greatest actresses in that show, and I feel that the Jacksons are a big part of EastEnders. Robbie and Wellard were certainly a permanent fixture of that too, and I do hope one day that both myself and EastEnders can come to some sort of agreement and say, 'Look, where has Robbie been?' It'd be very interesting to see where he's been and with the fact Sonia and Carol are back there too, it does leave scope for that door to be left open."
Robbie Jackson, Dean Gaffney, Wellard EastEnders
© BBC
Robbie and Wellard
Do you often hear from fans who would be interested in seeing Robbie back?
"It's a hard question to answer because I'm scared if I say yes, it looks like I'm bigging myself up! But certainly since doing the Marmite ad and appearing on The Graham Norton Show - as well as having Sonia and Carol in the show - there are a lot of tweets from people who think it's only a matter of time and it'd be lovely to see Robbie back.
"Lindsey has always said that the great thing about the way I played Robbie was that he was a character with a lot of energy. EastEnders does need energy - it can't just have 52 weeks of drama every year, otherwise they'd be burned out. It needs the light-heartedness, the Dot Cottons and the humour to it, which is what Corrie has always done so well. A lot of people have said that my character was like that, being light-hearted and always coming up with funny stuff."
Did you enjoy the recent Live Week?
"I'll be absolutely honest with you, I thought it was genius. What Dominic, Alex and Sharon are doing there at the moment is amazing. They're just beating everything that EastEnders has done in the past. You have to move with the times, and it was clever how they did the on-screen hashtag #EELive because it let the audience in on what was going on and that was important.
"Everyone was great, as they all stepped up to the mark and the sheer logistics of making a live show work must have been hell for them. I really think they did it with aplomb, but I think Adam Woodyatt deserves a special mention as he was amazing at what he did. After seeing what he did that night, a lot of people are saying they can't believe it was live. For a male actor to bring on emotion like that is bloody hard. I thought everyone was on their A-game and everyone smashed it."
When you've done reality TV, have you enjoyed it or would you rather be known for your acting?
"We do live in a different world now and TV is changing. I'm an actor and I'd love to be back on the telly in Downton Abbey - we'd all like to be doing those things, but you've got to be realistic.
"I do have daughters and they are at an age where they need their dad to put his hand in his pocket and contribute towards the university bills and the holidays. I'm under no illusions - I need to put presents under the Christmas tree each year, so I obviously need to work. I don't just want to sit on my bum watching Jeremy Kyle every day, and certainly reality gives you that vehicle to keep busy.
"You wouldn't believe the phone calls my agent gets every day from reality shows. I believe in a few weeks' time there'll probably be a reality show called Celebrity Pick Your Nose - it's silly! But I've said to my agent that unless the big-hitters come in, don't call me. I'm not going to go and do Celebrity Coach Trip or Come Dine With Me. I'm certainly not saying I'm Brad Pitt in the acting world, but I do have some love of what I do for a career and so I don't want to do everything. Certainly if Strictly came knocking I'd entertain it because it's a huge show, it's the BBC and it's a nice thing to do."
'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' TV Programme, Australia - 16 Nov 2006Bushtucker Trial - 'The Bush Spa' - Dean Gaffney
16 Nov 2006
© Rex Features
Dean on I'm A Celebrity in 2006
Would you do Celebrity Big Brother?
"I think Big Brother is a very hard one because people are swayed to do it for the money, but I think there's no life after Big Brother. If I asked you now what some people who have been in the show are doing now, you might not be able to tell me because they're not really doing anything. I want to steer away from that.
"It's also a bloody hard show to do - you're sat in a house for a month if you're lucky to go that far, and they do mess with your mind. As a viewer, I think the last series was the most car-crash TV I've ever watched but it was so entertaining. But it was so entertaining for the wrong reasons and I wouldn't necessarily want to be part of that.
"It was fine doing trials in the jungle where I had yellow goo on my face because it was light-hearted, but if you're going to go and do Big Brother, you'd only really do it for the money and that's not really where I want to be right now."
Would you consider another soap role if the opportunity came up?
"My good friend Ryan Thomas plays Jason in Coronation Street and he's like a brother to me. I was staying at Ryan's the other day and he invited me to come and have lunch with him on the Corrie set at Media City. When I go up there, I do feel so at home and they make me feel so welcome. There's no, 'Oh, what are you doing here Gaffney?!'
"I think it's a testament to how big the character of Robbie was, but it wouldn't work if I joined. On both sides it just wouldn't work - people would wonder why Dean Gaffney has suddenly turned up in Corrie! I also think it would burn a lot of bridges with EastEnders. Even though you have to move on, I still feel part of the furniture there, which is why I was asked back to do the Graham Norton special to celebrate 30 years of the show. I've got so much to be thankful to EastEnders for and I wouldn't want to go against that."
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