Gemma Chan talks staying grounded at Allsaints' Vogue Fashion Night Out

Gemma Chan insists she and comedian boyfriend Jack Whitehall are determined to stay grounded, saying there are already enough “self-obsessed” people in the industry.

They met on the set of Channel 4’s Fresh Meat and have become one of London’s hottest celebrity couples since getting together three years ago.

The 31-year-old star was at AllSaints’ Vogue Fashion Night Out event, where she told the Standard: “I just try and live a normal life. I actually find the less you think about it the better. There are enough self-obsessed people in this business, so I’m just trying to stay grounded. My friends and family are the same I’ve always had.”

She joked that the most exciting thing in her life at the moment was her new vacuum cleaner: “I bought a new Dyson, it arrived today, and I’m not kidding you it’s been the highlight of my year. They are absolutely amazing. It has transformed my life. I vacuumed the whole flat today and it’s changed my life! I’m not lying!”

Chan has just finished shooting her first French movie, Belles Familles, and impressed critics earlier in the summer when she starred on the West End stage in Yellow Faces, a play highlighting discrimination faced by Asian actors.

She said those issues were “definitely still a problem”, adding: “There has been a recent movement called Act For Change which I think has been really positive. I think that things that haven’t been necessarily as good as they could be in terms of representation of women and all kinds of minorities. I think there’s a real push now for that to change.”