THE star behind an iconic EastEnders character has opened up about her time starring in a rival soap.
A select group of actors have featured in both the BBC soap and ITV counterpart Coronation Street.
When Sophie Thompson, 62, graced Walford and Weatherfield, she played unscrupulous characters on both occasions.
Despite being a seasoned actress before joining Corrie, Sophie couldn’t help being starstruck when faced with the iconic cast and set.
However, she soon felt much more relaxed with help from legendary cast member Sue Nicholls, who plays Audrey Roberts.
Speaking to Alan Titchmarsh on his Sunday morning ITV show, Sophie recalled: “Sue Nicholls just has funny bones and even the nerves got overrun by the fact she just made me laugh… I couldn’t stop laughing!
“They had to give us a bit of a break because we were both in pieces.”
Sophie took her position within the Coronation Street cast very seriously, as she explained: “When you’re a guest and you’re not there for very long, you’re very conscious about not rocking the boat.”
She is the sister of Dame Emma Thompson, as well as the daughter of actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law.
Sophie is also an accomplished theatre actress, with one Olivier Award win and five further nominations.
She shared: “You’re always learning and working with good people is what you want to be doing. Just being in their midst and watching them work, hopefully something rubs off.”
Almost a decade before her Corrie stint, Sophie was a regular in EastEnders between 2006 to 2007.
Featuring a harrowing storyline, she played villainous Stella Crawford, who was originally introduced as Phil Mitchell’s (Steve McFadden) lawyer.
The pair later developed a romance and went on to become engaged.
Cruel Stella physically and mentally abused Phil’s son Ben, who was played by Charlie Jones at the time.
Stella’s reign of terror ended on her and Phil’s wedding day, when she jumped from a roof to her death.
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Nine years later, Sophie Thompson popped up in Weatherfield playing the guest role of Rosemary Piper.
This character was a clairvoyant working with conman Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers).
As part of a revenge plot, she first targeted Audrey and her daughter Gail Platt (Helen Worth).
Later, Rosemary expanded her web of lies to Roy Cropper (David Neilson), but was exposed as a fraud and jailed off-screen for her crimes.
