'EastEnders' newcomer Max Bowden first acted with Steve McFadden when he was nine years old.
Max Bowden
The 24-year-old actor - who was recast as the sixth person to play Ben Mitchell - says seeing his co-star Steve, who plays Watford legend Phil Mitchell, was a blast from the past because the pair shared the stage when they both featured in a pantomime when Max was a budding star.
He said: "Steve has been great. He's amazing to work with. He's an absolute icon. Any questions I've had he's been great with helping me answer them. So yeah, it's great.
"I actually worked with him when I was nine. I did pantomime, so I had met him before, so that was a nice little common ground coming in.
"We had a little joke and shared a few photos of the time. Obviously it's always daunting on your first day at work, it's like your first day at school isn't it? But Steve has been amazing, I'm very, very lucky."
The former 'Waterloo Road' star also admitted he rigorously studied Ben's character by watching several old clips on YouTube to form a "backstory".
He told Digital Spy: "I did [watch old clips], it was important for me to get as much backstory. I worked a lot with upstairs and got all of the backstory, some old clips and some other stuff to basically form where I'm at now.
"He's had lot of turmoil, with everything that's happened to him in his past, and I think that's important for me to give as much to the character in terms of his history. Not everybody has been through the dark places that he's been and without knowing what that's been like, how it's been portrayed, how it's been felt, I don't think I could give the character as much truth as I want to."
Max also told viewers to expect an even "darker" Ben upon the character's his Albert Square return.
He added: "I think he's certainly darker, he's potentially looking at Phil as a kind of idolisation so I suppose there are resemblances showing between the two."
Ben's comeback will air on Monday (01.04.19) at 8pm on BBC One.
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