Danny Dyer says EastEnders role stopped him from getting new roles as he ‘didn’t exist’

Danny Dyer said his decade-long stint on EastEnders meant he was ‘crossed off every casting sheet’ as he discussed not getting jobs.

The 46-year-old actor is best known for playing Mick Carter on the long-running soap between 2013 and 2022. He departed the show in a dramatic storyline which saw him drowning off-screen while trying to save his wife Linda (played by Kellie Bright). Since leaving the show, he co-hosted Cheat, hosted Scared of The Dark, played Steve Cameron in Heat and is currently filming the Football Factory sequel.

He also stars in the six-part Sky comedy series Mr BigStuff, which follows estranged brothers Glen and Lee, who try to patch up their rocky relationship – which could prove harder than anticipated. The brand-new series, which is Danny’s comedy debut, also stars Ryan Sampson.

During a recent chat with Jordan North, Chris Stark and former Mirror video journalist, Kemi Rodgers on Capital Breakfast, Danny discussed his comedy debut, revealing: “I mean, Plebs was funny I did a little bit in that, but, yeah. I never had the responsibility of playing a lead in comedy things, I was in EastEnders for a long time, and EastEnders is not known for being funny.

Danny made his comedy debut in Mr Bigstuff (Image:

Sky UK LTD)

“It’s quite dark… I think you get allocated the funny character, I wasn’t that you know what I mean? I was desperate to try a different kind of discipline.” Host Chris then asked: “But you must have been offered so many times, those kind of comedy roles, what about this role made you go for it?”

The actor then admitted: “Well, not really, I did 10 years on EastEnders, I was out of the game, I was crossed off of every casting sheet, I didn’t exist anymore to the industry. That’s the way it works, it’s a great job, EastEnders, it brings you stability, but, at the same time, you can’t go out and do other things, it just isn’t going to happen.”

Danny previously discussed a big reason he quit EastEnders. During a chat with Radio X, he revealed to The Radio Times that the chance to join Mr Bigstuff confirmed his decision to leave Albert Square was the right one, saying: “Ryan was probably whispering into the ear of a witchcraft doll to tell me to leave….No, I needed to leave; this cemented that I’d made the right decision.”

He then addressed those who doubted his ability to find more acting roles with a defiant message: “People said ‘Oh he’ll be back, he won’t get more work’. How wrong were they?”