'Work keeps me young'

Actor Anita Dobson on returning to EastEnders, husband Sir Brian May and her latest role

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It’s taken a good few years, but Anita Dobson says she’s finally learnt how to slow down. The former EastEnders star has a career spanning more than 45 years, but says that now she’s embracing the art of saying no.

‘As you get older, something wonderful happens,’ says Anita, who turns 76 this week. ‘My mother told me about it and I never believed her. But you find the ability to say no without hurting anybody's feelings. Just being able to say, “It’s not really for me at this point, but thank you so much.” And people are fine with that.’

More sage advice comes from Anita’s other half, Sir Brian May, the legendary Queen guitarist. ‘My husband taught me this one, which is to give people what you can and then say, “I’m sorry, that’s it. It's been nice to meet you but no, I don’t want to do any photographs right now,”’ she says. ‘As long as you're pleasant, it’s not so hard.’

Work-wise, Anita is only accepting roles that excite her. ‘I've decided that I want to be selective in my work,’ she says. ‘I used to do everything I got offered, but now I think, do I really want to go away from home? No, not at this point. Or do I really want to do something I feel I've done before? Maybe not.

‘I'm in a different phase of life and I quite like it. You gradually realise that life is changing and you're getting older, so you start to look at life differently.’