At age 16 I’d just done my O levels and I hadn’t done brilliantly, so I was waiting to find out whether my dad was going to have a hissy fit at me. He was a real academic. I think he thought I was clever, but the school always told me I wasn’t. He wanted me to fulfil my potential, which I did later. My other preoccupation was whether I was going to still be with my boyfriend if I went off to university. I’d been with him for about a year and a half and I was madly in love with him. In the end we did stay together for all of university. We lasted seven years, childhood sweethearts who were absolutely inseparable. But drama school finally put an end to it. But we’re still friends to this day. Your first love is an important part of your life, I think.
I have really
