Jennifer Metcalfe doesn\'t feel like she is "working" when she stars on \'Hollyoaks\' - apart from when she has to burst into tears all day.
The 36-year-old star has played Mercedes McQueen on the Channel 4 soap since 2006, and admits there is "nothing better" than spending time with her co-stars on a daily basis, so she would love to remain on the programme for a long time to come.
She told BANG Showbiz: "I don\'t feel I work every day. I feel like I go in and have a little play, have a bit of fun, and then I go home.
"Apart from the days when you have to cry all day and then you\'re like, \'Wow, I really earned my money today.\'
"But, generally, I really don\'t feel like I work.
"I just enjoy it, I enjoy the characters, I enjoy going in every day to the same faces.
"It is like a family, but I know everyone says that about nearly every workplace they\'re involved in.
"But there\'s nothing better than going down the corridor and seeing lots of people that you care about and they care about you, so that\'s the reason I want to stay."
Jennifer\'s latest big storyline saw Mercedes gunned down in The Loft club last week by one of the villagers, putting the character in a coma.
And the star admits shooting scenes for the plot is the "proudest" she\'s been of her work on \'Hollyoaks\'.
She added: "For me, personally, I\'ve never been prouder of work I\'ve done so much.
"I\'m really proud, watching all the guys do their thing. I think it\'s a great collaboration of amazing actors and it\'s worth the watch.
"I hope the fans will join in with it in a \'she deserves it, but she\'s bloody brilliant\' type way.
"Because that\'s how I feel about her, but I\'m a little bit biased."
Fans are still in the dark about who shot Mercedes, with seven suspects all in the frame: Mercedes\' husband Sylver McQueen (David Tag); Grace Black (Tamara Wall), who she recently ran over; lover Liam Donovan (Jude Monk McGowan); serial killer Breda McQueen (Moya Brady); secret keeper Joel Dexter (Rory Douglas-Speed); pal Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher), and angry lawyer James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan).
