Jo Joyner's dramatic 'EastEnders' storylines left her drained.
The 36-year-old actress says seven years on the soap as matriarch Tanya Branning left her exhausted because of the intense filming schedule and the abundance of heart-wrenching plots she was involved in, including being cheated on by husband Max (Jake Wood) and finding out she had cancer.
Jo explained: "It's tiring. The people in soap work so hard and the fans are so faithful. It's relentless.
"It's a great gig and I'm really grateful for my time there but it is a big machine. You're churning out 20-odd scenes a day, whereas on a normal drama you'd do five or seven.
"If you're playing one of the comedy characters in 'EastEnders' like Fatboy or Kim, you get some light with the shade and you could stay there forever having a fabulous time. But if you're part of one of the core families, you're essentially there for the drama and that absolutely has to be.
"Obviously, after a while that can become a bit draining."
Jo - who now stars on Sky Living HD sitcom 'Trying Again' - also revealed how she struggled to find her own identity after quitting 'EastEnders' last year because she became so used to thinking and behaving like Tanya.
The actress told The Sun newspaper: "When I finished after seven years, I was genuinely thinking, 'What do I wear?' I'd spent all that time wearing somebody else's hair, make-up and clothes, so after a while you do kind of lose sight of what you're comfy in and what you like doing."
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