Boscombe's Nathalie Baldwin on landing My Name is Earl part in LA (From Thisisdorset)

Boscombe's Nathalie Baldwin on landing My Name is Earl part in LA

8:20am Tuesday 6th January 2009

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TWO years ago she was just another worker at insurance firm RIAS in Bournemouth.

But now Nathalie Jayne Baldwin is well on her way to becoming a Hollywood star after filming a role in top US sitcom My Name is Earl and winning praise from movie legend Burt Reynolds.

Nathalie, who now lives in Los Angeles, still pops back to Bournemouth to visit her father Ieuan Llewellyn, who is currently acting as her temporary manager in the UK.

Nathalie said: “I used to live in Boscombe with my dad then I upped and moved to LA.

“I always had ambitions to be an actress but had quite a few people telling me I’d never make it.

“My dad encouraged me to go.

“I went there and things took off.”

Nathalie got the chance to perform at the Beverly Hills Playhouse – one of LA’s oldest and most respected acting schools – after which actor Burt Reynolds took her aside and told her: “You’ve got a great talent. If you really want to do it you can do it.”

The actor put her in touch with some of his contacts and she was offered the part of a BBC newsreader in the video game Red Alert 3 – Command and Conquer, which also features former Hollyoaks actress Gemma Atkinson, Star Trek actor George Takei, Tim Curry and Jonathan Pryce.

She said: “When I went in for the part I was up against some really well-known and established actresses when I hadn’t done anything but plays.”

The role then led to a series of pilots and a part in My Name is Earl, where she spent four days filming with Trainspotting actor Ewen Bremnar (he played Spud in the hit British film) and top US actress Di Quon, who is a regular in Maid in Manhattan.

The episode is expected to air in Britain in the next six months, she added.

During filming Ewen was amazed to discover that Nathalie was not an American.

“He and I got on really well and he was shocked when he found out I was British.

“I broke out with my British accent at the end of the filming and he was like ‘she’s Australian not British’.

“We had a bit of banter back and forth.”

The cast of My Name is Earl and main star Jason Lee were “great” and it was a “very friendly show to work on” added Nathalie.

Nathalie also speaks Mandarin Chinese, which has won her the chance to work on a major project in South China.

At the Beverly Hills Playhouse Nathalie performs alongside working actors, many of whom are famous or semi-famous, she added.

Previous pupils have included Michelle Pfeiffer, Kelly Preston and Tom Selleck.

She explained: “It’s a chance to get up and be recognised for your work and they help you.

“It’s a networking facility.

“My Name is Earl is such a big show over there. It has been such a big surprise, not because I never thought I was capable but I didn’t realise how quickly things would take off. When I walk down the street now in LA I do get recognised – more so for Command and Conquer.”

And at the tender age of 24 Nathalie has not yet been tempted down the route of plastic surgery and botox.

She jokes: “You certainly see people that look a little bit younger than they probably are.

“Right now I’m at an age where I don’t have to worry about that kind of stuff.

“The youngest girl I met who was having botox was 28.

“There is the pressure to look good and be the best.

“It wasn’t always easy when I first moved here,” she said.

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