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) for storylines that are certain to intrigue our viewers." The character made her return on-screen on 22 July 1999 and was involved in the storyline relating to actor Ross Kemp's departure, and romances with her brothers' enemies Beppe di Marco (Michael Greco) and Steve Owen (Martin Kemp). Despite Westbrook's claims that her close friend Mike Reid had backed her decision to return, he and other "EastEnders" actors later publicly denounced the BBC's decision in a documentary about Westbrook, as they had first hand experience of Westbrook's addiction on set and were concerned for her welfare. It was reported that Westbrook