Kierston Wareing on 100 Streets role: 'It's great to be playing someone normal'

Ex-EastEnder Kierston Wareing says everyone in London will be able to relate to her new movie 100 Streets, which features a cross-section of life in the capital.

Wareing, who played Max Branning’s wife Kirsty in the BBC soap, appears alongside Gemma Arterton and Idris Elba — with whom she starred in Luther — in the multi-stranded ensemble drama.

Produced by Elba, it follows interlinked characters as they deal with a series of personal crises.

The actress, who has been acclaimed for performances as deranged characters, said it was a relief to be playing against type. She plays the wife of a taxi driver, with the couple trying to adopt.

She said: “The film shows high society, the ghetto and a slice of normality.

“We cross paths, but without necessarily knowing it. I’m playing someone who is very normal, which makes a change for me.

“Everyone has their problems no matter where you’re from. I have been fortunate enough to mix with all sides of life, and I think viewers will be able to relate to everyone in the movie.”

Bafta-nominated Wareing, 38, did not have an easy path into acting after suffering bullying at school and says she never takes her work for granted.

She added: “I am always thinking, where is the next job coming from? A job’s a job and you’ve got a mortgage to pay.

“I would be a liar to say this profession isn’t difficult. If I’d known anyone in this business it would have been easier [to get advice]. But my family didn’t have any of that.

"All the experience I had was from my drama school at my local school in Essex. I just thought, where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Wareing is eyeing up her next film role: “I would love to play someone who is mentally ill or psychotic, but at the other end of the spectrum I’d love to do a romcom.”