As The Bill's conniving cop Debbie McAllister, Natalie Roles has been at the heart of a series of thrilling storylines. But nothig quite a sensational as the raunchy lesbian affair she now faces - and it's something she found suprisingly enjoyable to film.
So far, Debbie has been involved with bent copper Tom Chandler, who got her pregnant then raped her. Their violent relationship reached a traumatic climax when Tom held Debbie hostage at gunpoint and, as she went into labour, blew his brains out.
The scheming sergeant has now set her sights on new recruit Juliet Becker, played by Rae Baker. Debbie worms her way into Becker's affections to get a hold over her in some of The Bill's sexiest scenes ever.
"I was shocked when i read the script," laughs Natalie, 32, who joined the cop drama two and a half years ago. "I've never kissed a woman before, but i thought, 'Hey, just go for it'. Rae and I kept giggling between takes. It was quite embarrassing having all these men around watching and there was no sound, so you could hear everything. They must have been in heaven watching two woman kiss. In the end, I quite enjoyed it - Rae's got a gorgeous pair of lips. It felt different to kissing a bloke. It's quite nice, but you can taste the lipstick and I'm not sure I liked it. Give me a kiss with some male hormones any day."
Although Natalie prefers men, she understands why some woman might be curious to try a lesbian relationship.
"I think we look at women just as much as we look at men, if not more," she says. "Plenty of women are having relationships like this and we shouldn't be shocked by a same-sex kiss. The Brookside kiss with Anna Friel seems so long ago now and homosexuality is covered all the time on TV. I'm sure The Bill will handle it sensitively.
"I'm so lucky to get these storylines. Debbie always follows her nose and usually ends up in trouble. She's schemeing and manipulative, but so interesting to play.
"Sometimes I can't stand her or the way she speaks to people. But if I've had a row in real-life, with a traffic warden or parking attendant, it's fantastic to be able to take it out as Debbie. People's reactions to her vary. Most don't like her, but others love her because she's so ballsy"
Natalie has a fair amount of guts herself, especially when it comes to tackling the show's stunts.
"It looks stupid when you have a burly bloke in a wig doing your stunts," she says. "So I like doing them myself. I recently did a lot of physical fighting with Ralph Ineson, who played Finchy in The Office. It was fun rolling around on the floor with him. The fight director teaches us how to use ASP batons, the long extendable iron bars the police have, although ours are plastic. Just the other day I was supposed to be fighting off a bloke with a heavy iron rod, but because it was plastic it had bent to a 90 degree angle. It looked pathetic."
But sometimes Debbie is happy to leave the stunts to the professionals. "Recently, I took part in an emergency stop where a man hits the car and rolls over the bonnet. We filmed it with me in the driving seat up to a point, but I didn't want to do the rest. I knew if I missed the mark I could end up in prison for real."
Natalie, who lives in South London, is often filming from 7am until late at night. It doesn't leave her much free time to see her friends, or to find romance.
"I'm single at the moment, but very happy," she says. "If someone walks in and it feels right, I'll go for it, but it's not something that's lacking in my life. Although now summer is here, I've got my sunglasses on and I'm having a good look. A big thing for me is if a man has nice hands and nice nails. If he passes the hand check, he might get lucky. I don't know if men are put off if they recognise me, but generally people are nice and I'm pretty approachable. I'll speak to anyone. Some men come up to me with a corny police chat-up line like, 'You can come and nick me any time', but that's quite funny. No one's been nasty to me."
"I would like to get married and have children one day, but that's all in the future. I'm a fatalist - if it happens, it happens. I'm not a romantic. I don't believe there's just one prince on a white horse out there to rescue me. I'm much more realistic. You wont always get the whole package with a man, he's bound to have some faults."
She might be single, but Natalie is never short of good company.
"I get on fabulously with The Bill cast - especially Diane Parish, Lisa Maxwell and Roberta Taylor." she says. "We have such a laugh on set. Outside of work, not many of my friends are actors. A lot of them have moved abroad, but at least that means i have somewhere to stay when i go travelling."
Visiting foreign lands is one of her passions, which is just as well now that her parents have retired to Malta, where her mother was born.
"They're out there enjoying the sun," she says. "They're both proud of me, but have instilled it in me to keep my feet on the ground. Dad is so laid-back he almost falls over. I'm very close to all my family, especially my older sister Michelle and her two boys, Danny and Adam."
She adds, "Travelling is important to me and I've got lots of stamps in my passport. I spent last Christmas in Sri Lanka and loved it there. The people are so enchanting. I also want to return to Australia and Africa. Last year, I climbed Kilimanjaro in aid of a bowel cancer charity. It was so wonderful - almost an out-of-body experience. I'd like to go back and really explore that area. I also love yoga, tennis and running. Last year I did the Great North Run. It was just after Debbie had given birth and people kept shouting, 'How's the baby?',which was wierd. It is nice to be recognised, but I'd never go on something like "I'm A Celebrity". I just know I'd have to dip my head in spiders, or something.
"Eventually I'd love to do a movie and I'd really like to audition in Hollywood, but I'm not sure the lifestyle there would agree with me. And I love England, so I don't think I'd want to move away. Besides, I'm sure Debbie is bound to land up in a lot of trouble in the future."
