SHE has gone from bonny Colne to the Corrie cobbles — and now soap sensation Natalie Gumede has revealed she hopes to try her hand at comedy.
The stunning actress, who in 1996 won the Howard Rigg Leader-Times Stage Young Performer award, has recently been at the centre of one of the ITV soap’s most dramatic and darkest storylines.
Joining Weatherfield in 2011, Natalie took on the role of Kirsty Soames, a character who was soon to become the abusive lover to mechanic Tyrone Dobbs, played by Alan Halsall.
Her believable and gripping portrayal of the part has gone on to gain her national acclaim, and in May last year the star bagged herself the Best Newcomer gong at the British Soap Awards.
More recently, she was nominated for the title of Most Popular Newcomer at the glittering National Television Awards, but was pipped to the post by EastEnders’ actor David Witts.
In an interview with OK! magazine on January 29th, the 28-year-old shared how it has been a challenge taking on such a physical and emotional role.
And while she has no intentions of leaving the street just yet, she did say she would enjoy her next acting venture to be a humorous one.
The star, who has also appeared in Doctors, Wire in the Blood and Emmerdale, said: “I knew she would be a dark character, but I had no idea that she would be this dark.
“The place I have to go to emotionally is ugly. “It’s great to be challenged as an actor, but it’s daunting because unless you’ve been in a situation like Tyrone and Kirsty or you know someone who has, it’s so hard to comprehend.
“I’ve been so blessed to be given the chance to play such a challenging character and work with such great actors.
“It’s so different to anything I’ve done before, but I think I’d like to do a comedy next!”