Zack Morris says quitting 'EastEnders' was "definitely not an overnight decision".
Zack Morris: 'Quitting EastEnders was definitely not an overnight decision'
The 24-year-old actor - who played Keegan Baker on the long-running soap since 2017 - quit last year in order to focus on new opportunities but he admitted taking the leap was quite daunting.
He told RTE.ie: "I had the backing of my team – my UK agent and my US management. We had a lot of talks about when was the right time.
"And ultimately, 'EastEnders' was the perfect training ground for myself – it was the perfect place for me to gain exposure in the industry, and also get a feel, essentially, for what every little part of the industry was going to be – be that working on set long hours, be that script changes, the everyday life of a working actor, dealing with the media, being in the limelight. All that stuff that’s valuable going forward."
He continued: "I booked the show when I was 17 and I started on set when I has just turned 18. I was there for five years and it was a very impressionable time in my life.
"I felt like I was doing a lot of learning. I love learning and I love wanting to push myself and grow, so when it felt like it was time that I needed new challenges… As a creative, I just want to play cool characters, I want to tell great stories, I want to be involved in cool projects.
"When those opportunities arise… I had to go for that, so I needed permission to leave ['EastEnders'] to be able to do that."
And he went on to praise his former co-stars.
Zack said: "Everyone who works on 'EastEnders' is incredibly talented, incredibly hardworking, and to be an actor in this industry what I’m learning is that’s what you need – you need to want it, you need to be hardworking."