Steve McFadden he made his acting debut playing a small role in the 1988 television film "The Firm". That same year he had an uncredited brief appearance in the film "Buster" as a gang member. This was followed by appearances in the television series "The Bill", "Minder" and "Bergerac". McFadden then became famous for playing 'hard man' Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders". He joined EastEnders at the beginning of 1990, at the same time as Ross Kemp, who played Phil's younger brother Grant Mitchell. During that time, his character has been involved in numerous ratings-pulling storylines such as Sharongate
Sam Mitchell (EastEnders) buried Den's body in the Vic cellar and Sam proceeded to blackmail Chrissie and was then framed for Den's murder by Chrissie. The culmination of the plot - which saw Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden return to "EastEnders" as Phil and Grant to exonerate Sam - signified the departure of Kim Medcalf, who opted to leave the serial in 2005. Medcalf's final scenes aired on 17 November 2005. Westbrook returned to the show in 2009 in part of a shock storyline. Speaking of her comeback, she said, "I'm really happy to be coming back, it feels just like coming home.