I went to Brunel University and very much wanted to go on to do a PhD in management, but then my acting career started to take off. In those days when you switched on the box there were hardly any brown or black faces.

I don't ever want to be hugely famous because I had a little taste of it after 'East Is East' and 'Bend It.'

I love roles where I have to transform myself.

Since I was a baby my goal was to be on TV because film was just impossible - you never got any Asian women in Western cinema. I grew up wanting to be in 'East-Enders' because film wasn't even a dream. The community were very much like, 'How can you want to act? It's such a low-class profession.

I knew what I wanted to do for my entire life, from nursery to university. I've always been geared towards wanting to act. I've stuck with it, dedicated time to it.

Sometimes my ethnicity is relevant, other times not. I definitely get the best of both worlds.

I have been extremely proactive in putting myself up for characters that may have been meant to specifically be Caucasian. You bring an interesting angle to the character that isn't written.