'I love having an animal in my life'

THIS WEEK'S COLUMNIST Emmerdale actor Natalie J. Robb

-  SUE CRAWFORD

If I'd taken an alternative career path, I'd have liked to have been a surgeon. I was always fascinated by anatomy as a child and I think I could have dealt with putting my hand in someone's stomach without freaking out. But it didn't happen. I found out how many years you have to study and then I quickly changed my mind!

Instead, I began acting. When I was nine, I got a part alongside Tom Conti in a drama and the director said to my mum that it would be good for me to get a part in something like the Scottish soap, Take the High Road. My mum wrote and wrote to them, and four years later, they called me in for an audition.