Cush Jumbo "cried for days" after her first acting job finished

The actress shared: "My first professional show was 'Cinderella' in Lewisham with Cheryl Baker and Tessa Sanderson, the javelin thrower. Bodger and Badger were in it. I was 11 and flying high!

"My mum says I cried for days after it ended. Acting draws different people from different backgrounds, yet when we’re in a group together everyone seems to be able to build these relationships very fast.

"I once talked to a counsellor about theatre and she said actors don’t give themselves enough credit for the fact they go through a relationship each time - sometimes it’s intense, sometimes a fling, but you give away a bit of yourself each time."

Cush also recalled the counsellor giving her some more advice about her career and her approach to acting.

She told the Guardian newspaper: "The other thing that counsellor said to me is that when you’re playing a role, your brain knows you’re playing a character but your body doesn’t.

"When you become traumatised, the body keeps a memory. There’s only so long you can keep doing that.

"People who aren’t actors like to throw around these terms like 'method acting' and 'people who really go there'. It’s the finest line - you’re trying to go as far as you can within the role, and be the most authentic, but you’re trying to do all these other jobs at the same time.

"You still need to be accountable to your teammates and you need stamina to get through the run. You don’t want to collapse because you’re so completely in it."