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The Fall star Valene Kane admits she was stunned after landing an out of this world role in the new Star Wars film.

The Co Down actor will play Lyra Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards.

And she said the reality of joining the cast of the blockbuster fantasy movie series didn’t sink in until she walked onto the set.

Newry-born Kane, said: “I grew up watching Stars Wars and I didn’t believe it was happening until I was filming in Iceland. It has a really edgy independent vibe.”

She will be following in the footsteps of Co Antrim acting legend Liam Neeson who played Qui-Gon Jinn in the epic.

Rogue One tells the story of resistance fighters who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star.

The movie also stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk.

The hotly-anticipated film is expected to hit the big screens in December.

Before then, Kane returns to our screens as Rose Stagg, alongside Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson in hit BBC show The Fall.

She stars as the ex-partner of serial killer Paul Spector, played by Holywood actor Dornan.

But she told the Irish News she might never have made it into showbiz had she taken her parents’ advice as a teen.

She said: “I struggled and I had loads of part-time jobs – waitressing, baby-sitting, PA, gym instructor and drama tutor. And it was particularly hard because my parents really didn’t want me to do it. I was bright and they didn’t want to waste that. To be honest there is a part of me wishes I’d gone to university and I’m currently looking at Open University courses.”

She added: “Daddy is quite genuinely the man I respect most in all my life.

“I always go back to that time daddy was sick we used to watch a lot of movies together. There were a lot of westerns ­– John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I remember watching Viviene Lee in Gone with the Wind. I think it was watching someone playing an Irishwoman made me think ‘I could do that’.”

And she promised The Fall fans they are in for an action-packed third series when it returns this week.

“The first episode is amazing,” she said.

“It’s like a hospital drama but shot unlike most hospital dramas. It’s really slowly done and evocative. This series has lots of new characters and is a real exploration into the psychology of the main characters. You learn a lot more about Rose and Spector’s past. Allan Cubitt has written some massive, but beautiful, lyrical monologues for Rose.”

The third series of The Fall starts on Thursday September on BBC Two at 9pm.