EastEnders spoilers - Jacqueline Jossa "terrified" by June Brown

Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarronBBC

EastEnders spoilers follow.

EastEnders Star Jacqueline Jossa reflected on her years working alongside the late June Brown.

The BBC soap has planned an emotional tribute to June in next week’s episodes, following her death in April this year at the age of 95.

Jacqueline, who is best known for her role as Lauren Branning, is one of many confirmed characters who reprized their roles for Dot’s funeral, after news reached the square that she had died in Ireland.

Related: EastEnders‘Dot Branning will get a special ending theme in the funeral episode

Lauren will hop on a plane from New Zealand to pay tribute to Dot, and Jacqueline reflected on her years working alongside June during a recent EastEnders press event.

Talk to digital spy and other outlets, she said, “I was terrified of June. Only because it was really like, what June says, okay.

“I was young and she had just arrived and she would have changed the whole script! But it would be for the best, honestly. I never really learned my lines properly when we were doing scenes because I knew that she was going to come in and change them anyway.

“The director would often say, ‘Does that suit you?’ I would say, ‘Yeah, June said it, so we’re doing it’.”

Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarronBBC

“I was a fan of EastEnders before and to come in and be part of her family – she already feels like your grandmother. You watch an episode and she feels like Grandma Dot – she’s part of the furniture, she feels like part of the family.

“All of Britain will feel that when you watch it. It felt like you were at a funeral. And with his family there – for them to come in and be a part of it was like a dream come true.”

Admitting she was nervous about reprising her role as Lauren after four years away, Jacqueline added: “I was very scared and it had only been four and a half years.

sonia fowler, lauren branning, eastenders

BBC

Related: EastEnders boss explains Sonia Fowler’s focus on Dot Branning’s death storyline

“I was like, ‘I can’t remember how to act, I can’t do it’. I just felt like I was a little rusty. I didn’t know if people were going to see me again in as Lauren, but as soon as I was in, you’re back in The Vic, talking about people you know, and catching up with old friends, who all feel like family in this.

“I would see people like Natalie [Cassidy] and Scott Maslen and you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s Uncle Jack!’ and the people behind the camera too, it’s like, ‘Hello! You are still here!’. It’s friendly faces. You feel like family again.

“I worked with Richard [director] years ago and he was one of my favorite directors. It was really like being back home.”

linda carter, lauren branning, eastenders

BBC

Explaining how her comeback happened, Jacqueline said: “It was just a WhatsApp message from my agent, who said, ‘You’re not really free for these two weeks, but you’ve been asked to come back.’

“I said, ‘You have to move everything, I’m going in – yes, yes, yes’. It was literally that.

“I’m not really sure [what she’s been up to]. She has just arrived. I think she’s here to let people know that there is still hope and a future for the Brannings and it’s not over yet.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show is also streaming on BBC iPlayer.

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