Line Of Duty’s new st ar: I owe it all to failing at maths!
AS AC-12’s latest recruit in Line Of f Duty, DC Chloe Bishop will need a fierce intelligence to root out corrupt police officers.
But the British-born actress who plays her in the upcoming sixth series has revealed that she owes her showbusiness success to her inability to do maths.
At school, Shalom Brune-Franklin was told to ditch maths and switch to chemistry, physics or drama.
‘I was thinking, “I’ll go with drama, sit in the back and play games.” But I fell in love with it from then,’ she recalled. ‘It all came about because I wasn’t good enough at maths.’
Viewers may recognise Ms Brune-Franklin as ‘ cocky’ Private Maisie
‘I always thought that acting wasn’t a real job’
Richards in Army drama Our Girl, as an ISIS bride in the controversial 2017 Channel 4 show The State or as Sister Igraine in Netflix fantasy drama Cursed.
But as a teenager in St Albans, she dreamed of becoming an athlete and competing in the 800m at the 2012 Olympics. However, her Mauritian mother and Thaiborn English father decided to swap life in a Hertfordshire council house for a new start in Australia, concluding that they would ‘rather struggle in the sunshine’.
While at high school in Perth, she set her sights on becoming a journalist until fate intervened again.
An administrative error meant she was wrongly classed as an overseas student at her chosen university, landing her with fees she couldn’t afford. So she auditioned for the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Shalom, 26, recalled: ‘I always thought that acting wasn’t a real job. It didn’t register that I could have a career.’
Andrew Lewis, head of performance at WAAPA, said it was soon clear that Shalom would become a star. ‘It’s no surprise to witness her rise and her success,’ he added. ‘She was always attentive and responsive in class. I think she was 19 when she came, and she left as a brilliant young woman.’
In one of her first public performances at drama school, she played Lady Macbeth and critics singled out her ‘stunning’ and ‘beautiful’ performance.
On the show’s closing night, she was announced as the first winner of the Chris Edmund scholarship, which was set up by WAAPA graduate and Greatest Showman star Hugh Jackman and dedicated to his drama teacher.