EastEnders star Maisie Smith admits “pure fear” as she shares career regrets
EastEnders star Maisie Smith has opened up about her career regrets, admitting that she previously turned down job offers due to fear.
The actor, best known for her role as Tiffany Butcher-Baker, left the BBC soap back in 2021. After playing the character on-and-off for 13 years, Smith decided to pursue other acting opportunities.
She will soon be starring as Marge Sherwood in the theatre production of The Talented Mr Ripley. The play, which marks her first stage performance, begins next week at the Oxford Playhouse.
“At the beginning I thought ‘these are big shoes to fill’ but you have trust in the casting. They wouldn’t have picked me if they didn’t believe in me, and that’s all the reassurance I needed. I knew I could do it,” Smith told Ox in a Box. “So it’s been easy to lose myself in the show every night.”
The star shared how her self-doubt kept her from accepting other roles in the past, which she now looks back on with regret.
“I spent so many years questioning whether I was good enough to do other things and turned down a lot of opportunities – things I now regret – out of pure fear. People kept telling me it was a brutal world out there and that I’d have to jump into the deep end.
“So it was scary to leave EastEnders, but over the past few years I’ve learned to trust my gut instinct. So yes, I do think I’ve been brave, but I’m loving it,” she added.
Smith described the switch from TV to stage as “really enjoyable”, and claimed she was “itching” to expand her acting abilities.
“I loved EastEnders, but I was itching to get up on stage and see what I was capable of. So being able to focus on my part in The Talented Mr Ripley and having months to rehearse has been really enjoyable and much more exciting than I expected,” the star explained.
“I’ve been adapting to having thousands of people watching me on TV to seeing the audience on the front row. On TV you can just raise an eyebrow to convey emotions, but this is a completely different skillset.”