LIFE is sweet for Huddersfield-born actress Jodie Whittaker.

Since graduating from drama school a year ago she has trod the boards, appeared on the small screen and starred in a movie opposite acting royalty. And all this aged just 24.

Jodie took time out before jetting off to LA to talk to the Examiner - her first major Press interview - on what has been a phenomenal year for her. Things are pretty hectic for Jodie at the moment.

She is busy promoting her new film, Venus, and going to premieres across the globe. In the last two weeks she has appeared at the Toronto and Leeds

international film festivals, and is now off to LA to promote the film before being interviewed by the American press in New York. "I have been pretty busy. It's just been mad for the last year,"

laughs Jodie. "But it's amazing the fact that I'd only just got out of drama school and got this fantastic part, working with brilliant actors on a film with such great depth. "It was terrifying because I had no idea what to expect.

"I thought I wouldn't get the part because of my lack of experience." In Venus, due out in January, Jodie appears alongside an incredible

cast, including Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave and Peter O'Toole. The film chronicles the relationship between Maurice (O'Toole), a

has-been thespian, and Jodie's character, Jessie, a 21-year-old northern girl who has been sent to London to look after her great-uncle. He can't stand her, but Maurice is charmed by Jessie, whom he calls Venus.

Jodie said: "It was such an individual part and all the girls who auditioned were making it their own. They must have just liked my interpretation! "It was really nice getting the part because it was so individual. Also, it's nice playing someone who has come from Huddersfield.

"I think it's really good that my character has such a broad accent. I am so proud of being northern and I will never lose my accent.

"But for the previous three years at drama school I was encouraged to be able to lose my accent. Accents have to be dropped for a lot of parts. You couldn't play Juliet in broad dialect. You would have to be able to do standard English.

"I really did my homework and I made up a whole back story, centring around where I was brought up in Skelmanthorpe, to get into the part. "I am nothing like Jessie though! She's a right misery, but she's had a really awful upbringing and has developed a hard exterior.

"Peter's character is the only person who takes the time to get to know her. She is a breath of fresh air to him and they develop a beautiful friendship."

As if making her first film wasn't stressful enough Jodie had the added pressure of stripping off for the camera. "I was fine about it. It was in the script and valid to the story. I would absolutely argue every single scene if I thought it wasn't relevant.

"Nudity has to be necessary, and I don't see the point of it if it's not part of the story. I hope to be as strong in the future.

"As a performer it's so frustrating when you open a newspaper and you see amazing actresses like Kate Winslet and all that people are bothered about is talking about them taking their clothes off!"

Jodie is full of admiration for co-star Peter O'Toole, tipped to win an Oscar for his performance in the film. "He's an amazing man and he absolutely deserves all the praise he has been getting. "He is just a genius and I learned so much from him.

"And he loves Yorkshire and has spent a bit of time there.

"My mum made him a parkin cake and my dad, who used to play cricket for Clayton West, had him bowling in his dressing room!"

Jodie, who is now based in London, graduated from prestigious Guildhall drama school last year. She appeared in several stage productions, including Tim Carroll's The Storm at The Globe, and on the small screen in the BBC programme Doctors.

She said: "I always wanted to be an actress, and from the age of five I was using it as an excuse not to do my homework!

"I went to Shelley High School when Steven Downs was there, and he was such an inspiration to me. I wasn't at all academic, but I was encouraged to do something I loved. I am very grateful for that."

Jodie has just bagged another major film role. She is set to appear alongside Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen in Good, due to be released in 2008. It is a satire about the rise of the Nazis in pre-war Germany.

"I am really excited about it. It's an amazing story and an important one to be told. I will probably get so star- struck and nervous because there are such big names and a phenomenal cast."

Despite being suddenly catapulted into the glamorous world of celebrity, Jodie is keeping her feet on the ground, and is determined to stay close to her family and friends, who have supported her over the years. She said: "It's brilliant and I have been massively lucky. I have an

amazing family life and that makes a big difference.

"I am really close to my family, and they have been so supportive and come to the film festivals with me. They've seen the film more times than me. "My dad's learning the words now!

"I am having a fantastic time, but it's a fickle industry and I need to grab opportunities while I can. It's important that I don't try to run before I can walk."