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Saturday, 10 March 2007

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Ashley Jensen: Hollywood life’s so stressful

Extras actress now stars in Ugly Betty but LA's been a big shock

Ugly Betty star Ashley Jensen ditched the rolling hills of Scotland to pursue her acting career in Hollywood.

But the pretty 37-year-old, who recently married, took a while to settle into the American dream.

‘Nothing fitted my frames of reference. Not the hours, not the architecture, nothing,' she tells The Times Magazine.

‘I’d walk and walk and then find myself in this uninspiring area with nothing to look at.

'At first I was alarmed by people's directness. In shops and restaurants. They'd say, "How's your meal?" and I felt bombarded. But, weirdly, after six months I find that rather nice.'

Ashley bagged her role as a seamstress on Mode magazine after featuring in Ricky Gervais’s Extras show.

Ugly Betty executive producer Salma Hayek had the part of Christina rewritten specially for her. Now she's watched by 16 million people in the US alone. That's what you call a pretty big break.

Anna Taylor