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
Ross Kemp Watts (Letitia Dean) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon), as well as the "Sharongate" storyline, which saw brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) having an affair with Grant's wife. Kemp announced in April 1999 that he would be leaving the soap later that year after nearly a decade. His exit was aired in October 1999 when his character moved to Brazil after surviving a car crash. Kemp refused to rule out an eventual return to "EastEnders", and various media reports over the next few years speculated that he would return to the series at some stage. In early 2005, the BBC confirmed