Anne Kirkbride has appeared as Deirdre Barlow on Coronation Street for 40 years, but the star admits she finds the filming schedule "soul destroying".
As head of the Barlow clan with husband Ken, Deirdre has been one of the longest-standing and best loved characters in the soap, but actress Anne often feels like spending another day on the cobbles is too much for her.
Speaking to the Mirror, the 58 year old said she finds the time waiting to film a scene slow and frustrating, and often feels exhausted on the set.
Likening the show to waiting to catch a flight home from a holiday, she told the newspaper: "For me, working on Coronation Street can be soul destroying, its punishing. It can be long hours doing the same thing over and over again. You think you've died and gone to hell.
"There are rare moments when you are doing really good stuff. You are on a roll and in loads of scenes, the writing's brilliant and you feel great. But a lot of the time you are just hanging around for hours. I think 'If I stand here for long enough, eventually, it will be over and they'll let me go home'."
Anne also said she cannot stand the clothes that she has to wear for Deirdre's scenes, calling them "awful".
But she admits that despite the difficulty she faces appearing on the show, she would not leave as she could not imagine filming her final scene and simply walking away from the soap.