By 16 she had conquered her fears sufficiently to play Liesl in a school production of The Sound of Music ('Cringe!’ is her verdict today). She headed to drama school in Edinburgh, and then moved to London to attend the Italia Conti stage school. Three months later a part came up in the Scottish detective drama Rebus – to take it up she had to drop out of school. 'I was 18, I couldn’t resist the temptation but it was only one episode so I was taking a gamble.’ What happened next? 'Nothing happened,’ she says, with a cackle. 'It was terrible.’