Actress Michelle Ryan is trading the Queen Vic for the big screen with an upcoming role in Finding My Voice, a coming-of-age drama set for UK release on March 28th.

EastEnders fans are most familiar with Michelle as the fiery and self-destructive Zoe Slater, whose hair-trigger temper and endless supply of secrets has caused some of the most explosive drama ever seen on Albert Square.

Who could forget the iconic ‘You ain’t my muvvah!’ moment revealing that Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) was indeed actually Zoe’s mother?

Other greatest hits include pretending to be pregnant, and conspiring with Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman) to murder legendary ‘Enders villain Dirty Den Watts. (Leslie Grantham)

This came back to bite Zoe bigtime when she returned to the Square last year, when she found herself the target of a mystery stalker, who turned out to be her own estranged daughter Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness).

She was working with Chrissie, who resented Zoe for building a new life after Den’s murder while she served a lengthy prison sentence. In revenge, Jasmine killed her own father and pinned the crime on Zoe. Now Zoe is currently navigating a tumultuous relationship with her long lost son Josh Goodwin (Joshua Vaughan).

With that kind of drama kicking off on the daily, it’s easy to understand why Michelle would want a change of pace now and then!

That’s exactly what she’s getting in the film Finding My Voice, which follows the story of Melanie, a troubled teenage singer-songwriter whose dreams of stardom are shattered when her family is torn apart by the tragic death of her baby brother.

She faces a journey through grief and the foster care system, using the power of song to find hope.

Michelle portrays the role Lisa Kendall, Melanie’s mother, joining the cast alongside pop icon and Mysterious Girl singer turned actor Peter Andre and his son, Junior.

The trailer hints at a tumultuous mother/daughter relationship between Melanie and Lisa, who is seen in a club heavily drinking. But it’s clear from an Instagram post from the official Finding My Voice account that this role is a million miles away from Zoe.

In a post teasing the film’s release, Finding My Voice’s official Instagram posted pictures of Michelle Ryan as Lisa, sporting shorter hair and a chic looking cap. The new look went down a storm with fans, who flooded Insta with messages of support for her cinematic glow-up.

‘Michelle, you just keep getting more and more gorgeous’ a fan praised, while another added: ‘Shorter hair!’ with a slew of fire emojis.

‘So truly gorgeous and truly beautiful’ exclaimed another commenter, with another saying: ‘Your hair looks lovely that shorter length’

Finding My Voice is being screened at the Manchester Film Festival this weekend.