EastEnders star Danielle Harold on 'becoming the next Michelle Keegan'

ok.co.uk:

Actress Danielle Harold was a teenager when she joined the cast of EastEnders and admits she’s fully aware of the difficulties of navigating life outside of soapland.The 31-year-old Londoner said her final on-screen goodbye to her character Lola Pierce, who died from a devastating brain tumour, in scenes that aired in May.

Speaking exclusively to OK!, Danielle says she’s finally ready to close her Lola “chapter” and has her ambitions set on big roles, similar to the likes of former Coronation Street stars Michelle Keegan and Suranne Jones. “Everybody worries about being typecast,” she told us. “There was a stigma that it was hard to come out of a soap and get other jobs, but I think that’s changed." She continued, “I see soap actors in all different roles now, and when I watch them, I just see them as a new actor and not as a soap actor – so I’m excited for all that.” Danielle grew up on the set of EastEnders and it was her first professional acting role.

She didn’t go to stage school but just watched and learned from those around her on the Albert Square set. In her first year on screen she was crowned Best Newcomer at the TV Times Awards and following Lola’s devastating death scenes, took home the Leading Performer gong at the British Soap Awards, and Soap Actor at the TRIC Awards this summer.

She's also recently been nominated for the coveted Serial Drama Performance at this year's National Television Awards, which would complete an impressive hat trick if she wins.