Natalie J Robb slept in her car when she first moved to London.
The 42-year-old actress – who plays Moira Barton on ITV soap ‘Emmerdale’ – has confessed she had to stay in her vehicle "for a couple of weeks" as her accommodation with her cousin fell through initially.
She said: "I didn’t have the money to set up properly. I was OK, but I lived in my car for a couple of weeks when I first came down.
"I was due to stay with my cousin but he had another lodger meaning I couldn’t stay straight away so I just slept in my car. I didn’t mind – I just thought it was all part of the experience."
And Natalie admits it was "scary" making the big move.
She added: "I looked up to the sky to ask the universe and thought I’m going to do this and follow this dream and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work but, back me up, will you? When you’re young you don’t really care. You have that lovely no-fear factor. I think fear can hold a lot of people back."
And Natalie’s tough start certainly paid dividends as she was recently nominated for Best Serial Drama Performance at the National Television Awards last week.
Speaking about the honour of being nominated, she told the Sunday Post: "My big storyline with the shock death of Holly was just at the time voting opened.
"We had kept her death a secret so the audience had a true sense of shock just like Moira would have had. So they were on Moira’s side throughout her journey."
Meanwhile, Natalie previously admitted she was "crying for 10 hours a day" when her on-screen daughter Holly, played by Sophie Powles, passed away.
She shared: "It’s still fun. The crew are lovely, the cast are lovely, we do have a laugh. There’s never a day that goes by that I haven’t had a smile or a laugh.
"The [daughter] Holly death stuff granted I was crying for 10 hours a day, so that was tough, it takes it out of you. But then you always have a laugh and see the funny side because it isn’t real."