Jake Wood would quit 'EastEnders' if he didn't feel he could give 100 per cent to the show.
Jake Wood
The 46-year-old actor has played Max Branning in the BBC One soap for 12 years and while he admits it could be "easy to get complacent", he is just as keen as the programme's fans to find out what his alter-ego is going to do next.
He said: "That's why I've been there 12 years - they always give me great stuff to do.
"No [I don't get bored]. I never know what he's going to do next. I'm just as interested and intrigued - he is a great character isn't he?
"My approach is you just have to keep the intensity of the work going. You can't take your foot off the pedal.
"It's easy to get complacent - not just there but in any area.
"Unless I know that I can give it 100 per cent and I'm full in then I'd rather not be there."
One of Jake's favourite storylines from his time in Walford was when Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner) and Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky) buried Max alive in 2008.
Speaking on MC Harvey's Team Harvey YouTube channel, he added: "We shot that in some woods somewhere in February. They put me in a box for two days.
"It was the middle of the night and there was frost on the ground."
Jake recently revealed 'EastEnders' bosses fast-tracked his debut on the soap after being impressed with his and Charlie Clements' (Bradley Branning) chemistry.
He said: "They got me in with Charlie to do some stuff and, obviously, the chemistry was right.
"They just had an idea ... they thought in a year's time they were going to bring the dad in.
"When I came in, Charlie was ginger, I'm half-ginger and bald - work that one out - we just worked well together and the dynamics were right so they brought it all forward.
"Originally, they were going to bring the dad in in a year's time or whatever, but three or four months after Charlie arrived they brought me in."