When Brooke Kinsella was a little girl, her mother took her to drama school. Brooke says she never showed any interest in acting, her mum enrolled her because she didn't want Brooke watching TV all the time. Ironic really, considering that now days thousands of young people tune in to watch her as Kelly, the ex-prostitute and best friend of Zoë Slater on one of Britain's best-loved soap operas: EastEnders.
We caught up with Brooke after a gruelling 10-hour day on set. "It's been a long day," she says surprisingly cheerfully. "I came in at seven and I didn't start until two and I've just finished now, so it's tiring, but very good fun."
From that reluctant young girl, Brooke has risen to become a pivotal force among the soap's teenage crew. As she described what it took to get there, we could only admire her determination and persistence on what is no easy path.
"I started at the age of eight at the Anna Scher theatre school in North London," she told us. "It's really good, you go once a week and do lots of improvisations, making up your own acting. I got my first part when I was nine."
Brooke's character in EastEnders has a past that would make a soap story in itself. But since her first part in the short-lived TV series MUD! she went on to play a sexually abused child in No Child Of Mine and had a leading role in the docu-soap Kid in the Corner. She said: "I started out doing kids series and little bits and pieces on television and then I did a controversial drama called "No child of mine" which was probably the biggest thing I have done, when I was about 14. I did a little bit of theatre and then I came in to EastEnders for just a few episodes two years ago, and then they brought Kelly back as a regular last year which was really nice."
Brooke is only 5ft 1 and her blond hair (which is really brunette but dyed for her role) coupled with her sunny replies to our questions hide her strong personality and determination to succeed. She was so good as Kelly that the part got made permanent, and the fact that she got in the first place proves how determined she was: Kelly was not the first role she auditioned for in EastEnders. "I've been up for every girl going," she says with a laugh. "I've been up for Zoë, Janine and Sonia, but I finally got Kelly which I think is a really good character to play so I'm really happy about that."
Brooke's advice to young people wanting to get into acting is not to take rejection too seriously. She says: "Basically try every avenue, apply to lots of drama schools, take acting as a lesson in your school, don't be embarrassed about it. I mean boys as well as girls. I know boys don't like drama lessons, but you build up your confidence basically and you have got to remember that if you get rejected don't give up, don't get upset over it - if you see acting as a hobby rather than a career I think that would be a whole lot better and you won't get so upset."
As a star struck teenager, it is easy to imagine that fame sorts your life out and brings loads of rewards. But Brooke is honest about the downsides. She admits relationships can be hard because people confuse her with the characters she plays. "It's been strange because I am concentrating on work at the moment. You do get a lot of boys coming up and trying to chat you up, but they're probably not doing to because they like you, they're doing it because they see Kelly and not Brooke. You have to say 'You do realise I am Brooke, I am not Kelly, Kelly isn't real!' It's really crazy."
It is hard enough trying to be your own person even when you are not playing someone else on prime time TV three nights a week. The fact that Brooke has been in acting from such a young age helps her to cope. She says: "I have been friends with the same group of people since I was nine or ten and a lot of them go to drama school. They know what the deal is and I also have a lot of friends from the cast who help me to get through so you do kind of realize who your friends are. You realize you get a lot of people coming up to you pretending to be your friends and they're not."
Then of course there is the pressure from the media that being a young soap star brings. We asked her how she copes and she said: "It can be really upsetting. You have to realize that this is your job and you deal with it so you are prepared for it but some of the things they come out with do hurt you a lot. Also they [the press] tend to try and find stories on your friends and family which is the most upsetting because it is not fair for them to get dragged in. 99 per cent of it is so untrue and laughable anyway that you do just have to look at it and think 'this is silly'."
Brooke is lucky to have a family that support her dreams. She says: "They've always been really good. My mum entered me in to drama school and it gave me a whole load of confidence. She always said 'whatever makes you happy, go for it,' and my Dad as well, so whether it was university, which I did for a year, or acting, they've always been behind me."
One thing we could never imagine Kelly being is addicted to horror films. But Brooke told us she would love a part in a Scream or I know what you did last summer type of roll, one where she could "run around screaming all day." Her dream role for herself would be to take over from Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Meanwhile, she has different dreams for Kelly. She said: "I would love Kelly to have a family. I mean she's got the Slaters that look after but she has not got anybody of her own to come and take care of her and love her so maybe her mum or her sister or her brother could pop up and take care of her." But she also let slip that happiness isn't on the cards: "There's a lot coming up for Kelly - she has been really unlucky. She had a little thing with Spencer but that didn't work out - he was just totally the wrong type for her and then she found Ronny and that was true love at first sight. For Kelly he was this really cool boy and he fell head over heals for her and that all went wrong and she had a little kiss with Martin to get over that. But that was just kind of on the rebound and now Zoë's going out with Ronny and its really upset Kelly - she's a bit jealous. I'm hinting that it is going to get a whole lot worst for her."
Maybe things will get worse for Kelly but that can only mean good news for Brooke. She's the kind of person who seems to thrive on hard work - with the odd break for an interview of course!
About the team
This story was produced by Diana Tabriz, 18, Katharine Fewings, 14, and Nestor Sayo, 12. It was published by Upstart magazine.
