British actress Natalie Dormer was once a cubicle rat and she hated it.

The friendly and chatty 26- year-old, who plays Anne Boleyn in Showtime's hit drama series The Tudors, says she dislikes working in an office and 'being at the bottom of the chain photocopying documents and making coffee for others'.

But the sylph-like brunette has since moved on to a much more glamorous profession - acting.

Playing one of the most famous women in English history - the second wife of King Henry VIII - also means that she gets the much more pleasant task of snogging her eye candy co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays the marrying monarch.

The 10-episode first season of The Tudors debuts on HBO Signature (StarHub Channel 66) on Friday at noon.

Over the telephone from London, Dormer adds that she feels a lot more pressure portraying a real-life historical figure, as opposed to a purely fictional character.

She says: 'I read many history books to figure out who Anne Boleyn really was. I also visited many historical sites to get myself into the role so that I will be well prepared.'

What she was not as prepared for was the discomfort of wearing the authentic period gowns which came with very tight corsets.

'The corseted gowns I wore were heavy and tight. I had to squeeze into them and I did a lot of yoga and swimming to counter this problem,' she says.

But the fencing enthusiast, who is a member of the London Fencing Academy, has no problems maintaining a slender frame.

While some might think cosying up to Rhys Meyers is an enviable occupation, the actress says laughingly: 'Every time a new kissing scene comes up, Jonathan and I joke about it, saying that it is just another scene.

'It has become so normal for me that kissing him is starting to feel like a job.'

Meyers is not the only hottie Dormer has worked with.

She was cast by director Lasse Hallstrom to star opposite the late Heath Ledger in Casanova (2005) as the title character's wife.

The director was so impressed by her that he expanded her role. She was then a fresh graduate from Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

That breakthrough, and landing the coveted role in The Tudors, also resulted in the Telegraph newspaper in London picking her as an upcoming young British actress to watch.

Currently dating someone who works behind the scenes in entertainment, she says she does not like to date actors as they lead to a 'dynamic and combustible relationship'.

Having played only period characters to date, she is worried that she will be typecast as someone who can act in only such roles and says that she would love to act as a young, modern woman in the future.

The actress, who is also a trained mezzo soprano, says: 'I want to act in a role in which I can wear a T-shirt and jeans, and be carefree.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Sep 15, 2008.

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