British TV legend Ross Kemp: “Nothing I’ve done fills me with fear more than EastEnders”

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Ross Kemp claims he’s not a tough guy, which is amusing considering his past experiences. Anyone familiar with his work immediately recalls moments that prove otherwise – like when he was avoiding gunfire while filming in Afghanistan and Syria. There was also the time in Colombia, reporting on drug trafficking, when a man threatened him with a knife and demanded a bribe. Kemp’s response? He refused and told the man to leave.

The stories don’t end there. There was the time armed rebels in Papua New Guinea ordered him to kneel, but he boldly grabbed for one of their guns and declared he wouldn’t be killed. And those who read his 2023 memoir, Take Nothing for Granted, might remember the tale of him swimming while drunk in Australia, where he apparently challenged any crocodiles he encountered to fight him – though he barely remembered the incident himself.

It’s understandable if you’re surprised to hear Ross Kemp say that nothing scares him more than the TV show EastEnders. But he’s serious. Even after 36 years since the Mitchell brothers, Grant and Phil, first appeared on the show, Kemp says EastEnders still affects him the most. His recent return to the show proved that hasn’t changed.

Next week, Grant will be back from Portugal and will meet his son, Mark, for the first time since Mark learned the truth about his parentage. Following a brief visit last year for the show’s 40th anniversary, Grant is staying longer this time, and will be dealing with the declining health of Nigel Bates – a school friend of the Mitchell brothers – who is suffering from dementia. Paul Bradley plays Nigel.

While enjoying a botanical lemonade at a café in north London, Kemp explained he was immediately drawn to the role. He found the idea of portraying Grant as a 61-year-old, and considering all the life experiences that would bring to the character, particularly appealing.

The actor Steve McFadden is still incredibly talented at portraying characters who are both tough and vulnerable – someone who can be physically threatening but also unexpectedly emotional. The same could be said for Grant. For actor Ross Kemp, the reality of the role hit him when he first read the script. He was shocked to discover, right at the beginning of the first scene, that his character, Grant, was supposed to be visibly overwhelmed with emotion, crying upon seeing another character named Nigel.

Kemp didn’t expect to be dealing with real-life medical emergencies while filming. Early in the first week of shooting, his mother experienced a health issue, and he found himself going back and forth between the hospital set and the actual hospital. He was genuinely emotional during a scene, making the performance feel authentic. He even joked about how easy it was to cry, and all before 8 am.

We moved onto another set where everyone was acting like they were at a memorial. The script had a line about how good a dancer Nigel used to be, and I joked about seeing him ‘pogoing’ – jumping up and down – in clubs back in 1977. Someone asked what ‘pogoing’ even was, and then the whole group started chanting my name, urging me to demonstrate! So there I was, at 61 years old, jumping around, and honestly, my knees weren’t really up for it.

The more you get to know Kemp, the clearer it becomes that he’s more influenced by his father, John – a veteran and retired police officer – than by Grant Mitchell. Kemp actually described his father, who passed away last year, as “my hero; my role model” in a Facebook post announcing the loss.

In his book, Lost Boys, Deadly Men, Kemp investigates the challenges facing young men today. As part of his research, he participated in a retreat called The Unmasked Man, where attendees were asked to share what they wished they’d heard from their fathers. Kemp’s response was a desire to hear that it’s okay to not always be competitive.

Without his drive to win, what kind of life would he even have? It makes me think of a past scene where he tells his daughter, Courtney, that he feels responsible for the person she’s become. But in moments like that, whose feelings are we really seeing? Is it Grant expressing his own regrets, or is it actually Ross, trying to understand what his father couldn’t provide?

He said that all emotional performances come from genuine feeling, joking that the only exception would be if an actor used a product to artificially create tears.

Although Kemp felt the retreat was largely beneficial, he was particularly struck by transformational coach Alexander Cottle’s characterization of the Mitchell brothers as classic “alpha males.”

He questions whether the recent attention is deserved. For those who watched Grant’s emotional confrontation with his wife Sharon about her affair with Phil back in 1994 – and there were 25 million of them – Ross Kemp doesn’t need to point out that the show was incredibly moving even then. It resonated with audiences long before anyone called it innovative drama; people were deeply affected by it 30 years ago.

Sharing the role of Grant Mitchell has actually been quite beneficial. It’s given Ross Kemp the chance to play up the tough-guy image people expect, but also to show his versatility and surprise those who underestimate him. John Yorke, a former EastEnders script editor and writer, remembers when Kemp first came to him in 1994. Yorke says that Kemp, who was a huge star at the time, walked into his office to complain, saying he hadn’t been able to physically fight anyone on set for over a month, and even playfully poked Yorke in the chest to emphasize his point.

When Kemp hears about this, he laughs and quickly changes his tune, admitting, “Yeah, I likely could have pulled that off! Steve and I connected with many of the writers – we shared a similar sense of humor and outlook on life. Not everyone on the cast had that bond, which definitely benefited our storylines! But ultimately, when you’re given a plotline, you can either ignore it or really make it your own.”

I’ll never forget when Chris Yorke left the soap and started working on ‘City Central’! He had this amazing character, a gangster who also performed in drag as Dilly Dally, and he immediately knew who he wanted for the part: Ross Kemp! Chris always says Ross was practically born to play Dilly Dally – he was in costume the entire time and just thrived in the role, even entertaining the crew between takes. He was a natural!

Kemp leaned forward, smiling. “Let me tell you a funny story about that time. I had to learn the song ‘I Will Survive’ for the part. I was living in Essex then, and I was meeting friends at the pub. But I had a few minutes to practice before a shoot the next day. So there I was, wearing my neoprene shorts and trying to walk in heels – you have to look convincing in stilettos, you know – hairbrush in hand, singing at the top of my lungs! I thought I’d nailed it, so I went to the pub, and next thing I knew, my neighbors were slowly clapping. Turns out three of them had been watching me from their windows!”

I’m always surprised by how honest he is when he talks about things he regrets. He admits he was very insecure in his twenties, saying, ‘To be honest, I was a bit of a fool.’ He then tells a funny story about performing in a production of Dick Whittington with Rod Hull and Emu. Apparently, he refused to let Emu playfully nudge him, which upset Rod. ‘That’s how much I’ve changed,’ Kemp laughs. ‘He could definitely nudge me now!’ He also remembers having to be very quiet when Emu was sleeping, even when Rod wasn’t in the room – they shared a dressing room, you see.

Thankfully, Kemp’s development as a person goes far beyond just feeling comfortable around sock puppets. In the 2000s, his marriage to Rebekah Brooks, a former editor at the Sun and News of the World, introduced him to a world he never knew growing up in Barking – a place he jokingly describes as being near where the TV show EastEnders is set. During this time, he dined with two British Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and David Cameron, but he was more impressed by American leaders like Bill Clinton, who had a natural charisma, and John McCain, a war veteran running for president, who possessed a remarkable calmness. McCain, in particular, stood out to Kemp because of his stoicism, forged through being shot down and imprisoned for five years during the Vietnam War.

Martin Kemp’s involvement with politics began through his marriage to Brooks, but it’s continued even after their divorce in 2009. He initially supported Gordon Brown and, surprisingly, later endorsed Conservative MP Mark Francois, praising his dedication to veterans. A particularly impactful experience for Kemp was his time in Venezuela in 2012, witnessing the realities of Hugo Chávez’s government. A documentary captured his shock while visiting a Caracas hospital overwhelmed by gunshot victims and the notorious El Helicoide jail, which had been effectively run by prisoners for five years.

While Kemp’s journeys to dangerous conflict zones are insightful, he doesn’t share how these experiences personally affect him. He’s previously admitted that covering troops in Afghanistan’s Helmand province led him to rely on self-medication to cope.

His experience at El Helicoide, even more than his time in Afghanistan, deeply affected him. It culminated in a difficult night where, after drinking Johnnie Walker for the first time, he damaged his teeth. He doesn’t plan on writing a positive review for the dentist who had to repair them. He explained that it was his first time drinking whisky, and he ended up arguing with those around him. The next day, the local dentist was woken up on her day off to try and temporarily fix his teeth, performing the painful procedure without anesthetic. He admitted the pain was bad, but the embarrassment was even worse.

In 2012, Kemp also met his wife, Renee O’Brien, who works as a corporate lawyer. He’s always got a good story about how they met, and it would be perfect for the game show Would I Lie to You?

While serving in Afghanistan, he discovered soldiers struggled with underwear that quickly deteriorated due to the hot, humid, and dirty conditions. He used his network to propose silver-infused underwear – leveraging silver’s antibacterial qualities – to a friend, Bobby, at Agent Provocateur. Though the idea didn’t come to fruition, Bobby introduced him to Renee, believing they would get along. Kemp was particularly excited about meeting Renee because she was unfamiliar with his previous work.

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Despite their busy lives, the couple went on to have three children together: Leo, who is 10, and eight-year-old twins, Ava and Kitty. Kemp also has a 15-year-old son named Oliver from a previous relationship with Nicola Coleman. They share childcare responsibilities, and Kemp recently described a typical day looking after the kids, making it sound like a detailed report from his time as a frontline worker.

I have to say, it’s wonderful to hear Ross Kemp say things are genuinely great right now. He’s at a point where he’s doing everything – serious dramas, insightful documentaries, and even hosting his fun game show, Bridge of Lies. It’s just incredible! He tells this amazing story about being chased by snipers in Karachi, and a woman in a tuk-tuk recognizes him – with a Brummie accent, no less! – as Grant Mitchell. But what really got a laugh out of him was when I mentioned my teenage daughters only know him from those old ‘Extreme World’ clips on YouTube. It’s a testament to how much he’s done, and how he’s still relevant to so many different generations.

Authors

Pete Paphides

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2026-04-20 19:49