30 December 2023 , 17:38
658
0
EastEnder Kitty Castledine explodes on to our screens on Monday in a drugs mule storyline as she joins the BBC soap’s newest female power duo.
In Kitty’s debut episode, her character Penny Branning is seen stashing drugs in cousin Lauren’s (Jacqueline Jossa) suitcase in Paris. And on their return to Walford, the pair spark a storm that leaves Albert Square residents reeling. Kitty, 21, admits her early scenes were so full of drama that her mum jokingly said she was taking too much of Penny’s wild child personality home after filming.
The actress says: “Penny is a firecracker, 100%. I love that she and Lauren are the new dynamic duo. We kick up a storm from the outset and bring some of that classic Branning drama back to Walford. It’s a really uplifting, fun energy – that’s what Penny brings to the Square. Her morals are all over the place, but she is so much fun to play. She has a real sense of destiny, she knows what she wants and she’ll get it – she doesn’t really care who is in the way. But once she’s in Walford, she realises that might not quite work out.”
With mum Lucy (Instagram)Co-star Jac is a dream to work with, Kitty says. “I was nervous before we met... but we felt like cousins before we even filmed together.”
And she’s been having a lot of fun filming. “But because I haven’t been in the show for long, I have been coming home with a bit of Penny. I’ll say something and my mum will say, ‘All right, don’t get too cocky, you’re turning into Penny’,” she laughsKitty is the daughter of former Homes Under The Hammer host Lucy Alexander and ex-Premier League footballer Stewart Castledine. They have always supported her dream to be an actress.
EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness
She says: “I’ve always done theatre, and I used to love dancing. Then I was paralysed by an illness at seven. But my family’s response was, ‘Well she’s not going to stop doing theatre just because she’s paralysed. She can still act in a wheelchair.’ I was so lucky to have that support.”
Her family were ecstatic when she got the part but Kitty couldn’t tell anyone else – not even Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, who was giving out awards at her drama school graduation just weeks before she started on the long-running soap.
New girl Penny (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)Kitty says: “I told him, ‘Thank you’ while thinking, ‘I’ve got EastEnders!’” Soon she was on the Walford set, with the entire cast welcoming her on their group WhatsApp. Being thrown in at the deep end was a big step for the new star, having just graduated from drama school, but Shane Richie, who plays Alfie Moon, helped put her at ease.
Kitty reveals: “Shane came up to me early on, and told me, ‘After the day, throw the script away. Because it’s done now. Shot, done, can’t go back. You did a great job, don’t dwell on it, that’s when you start beating yourself up’.”
Kitty’s character Penny, the daughter of corrupt copper Jack Branning, was paralysed years ago when an informant took his revenge by involving her in a car crash. She last appeared in the soap in 2008, played by Mia McKenna-Bruce.
The way Penny was cut out of her family’s lives astounded Kitty. She says: “There weren’t pictures of Penny in any of the houses on Albert Square. It was like, ‘Wow, she isn’t here.’ In the cab home, I imagined going into my house and seeing pictures of my siblings but not me.”
Although she and her character are similar, there are differences, Kitty points out, saying: “I’m glad those differences exist, because it helps me disconnect myself from Penny. I can relate to a lot of her root problems, because they are around her disability. Penny has this huge facade, she has a mask on to protect herself. Being a disabled actor playing a disabled character, you can feel like you need to put on a mask because you have this sense of needing to prove to everyone that you’re fine, you’re funny, you’re a laugh. Penny needs to prove she’s not a victim, she’s a funny girl you want to drink with in the Queen Vic, and I relate to that a lot.”
Kitty praises the show for highlighting the challenges disabled people face through Penny’s accessibility challenges in Albert Square. She says: “Not everything is accessible in life. And it’s awful, it needs to change.
“It’s really important that disability is visible on screen, because there hasn’t been a lot of representation, and I’m proud to be someone representing disability. Things have been getting better but there is still lots of room to improve.”