William Ellis gets "strange looks" in public after joining 'EastEnders'.
EastEnders star explains how seriously fans take the show
The 41-year-old actor plays teacher Theo Hawthorne in the BBC One soap opera and his character has become a stalker towards Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) but explained that fans are so invested in the series that they believe it is real and he has sometimes suffered verbal abuse when spotted.
He told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: "People think it’s real and EastEnders is in some people’s living rooms for two hours a week, so you do get strange looks.
"I was on a flight the other week and I got called a nonce by a group of people who had obviously been watching. It was friendly . . . I chat to fans and they say ‘Have you been teaching today?’ People really live for this imagined reality and it becomes their own reality."
The actor - who had made guest appearances in shows like 'The Bill', 'Doctors' and 'The Crown' before joining 'EastEnders' - added that his sudden soap fame had been a "shock to the system" because people on the streets would automatically see the character as opposed to his natural self.
He added: “It’s been a bit of a shock to the system that people see that character in you as you’re walking down the street.”
William previously admitted that he was only meant to be in the show for a handful of episodes and felt "overwhelmed" to have landed a more regular role.
Speaking on the 'Check It TV' podcast, he said: "It's slightly overwhelming. The inception of the role started differently. I was given a call to take a role of what was then three or four episodes and then quite quickly, that became a lot more. My lovely agent had said that if the writers enjoy writing for you, then I might end up in it for a little while. So that's kind of what happened. It wasn't by design, I didn't go in knowing what it was going to happen. It was a huge honour though, the show is so canonised into British culture."
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