Laura Sadler joined Holby City in 2000

Acting was in Laura Sadler's blood ever since she first began dancing at the age of three.

Born on Christmas Day, 1980 in Ascot, Berkshire, Sadler was raised in London and, inspired by screen icons James Stewart and Marilyn Monroe, decided to become an actress.

"I think Marilyn's the epitome of a woman," she told a newspaper in 2002.

"She was fantastic and I don't think there'll be anyone like her ever again."

She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School in north London, and captured Dustin Hoffman's attention at an early age, when the actor asked to meet her when she starred as the little girl in Six Characters In Search Of An Author at the National Theatre.

She played Judy Jeffreys in Grange Hill

Her first film came when she was 14, when she played Julie Walters' daughter in Intimate Relations, about a mother and daughter found bludgeoned to death in the 1950s.

Sadler's character shared a bed with her mother while she had a passionate affair with the lodger who would eventually kill her.

Her profile grew when she joined the cast of Grange Hill in 1997 as Judi Jeffreys, which also helped her land a leading role in children's fantasy Belfry Witches, alongside Lucy Davis, who would go on to find fame in comedy The Office.

Meanwhile, her career flourished on stage as well. She received plaudits for her part in Roy Williams' council estate drama Lift Off at London's Royal Court, and Toby Whithouse's Jump Mr Malinoff, Jump, at the Soho Theatre, among others.

In 2000, Holby City was her first major role in an adult series, when she joined as unlucky-in-love nurse Sandy Harper.

And she appeared with The Office star Lucy Davis (L) in Belfry Witches

Sadler said of her character: "She's very naive and daffy, I suppose we are similar in that, though I like to think that I'm a bit brighter than her."

But she admitted to finding some aspects of fame difficult.

Asked by the BBC's Holby City website how she dealt with fans asking for autographs, she said: "I get really nervous and embarrassed and sweaty.

"When people ask if they can have my autograph I always look at them as if they're a bit mad and wonder why they would want my autograph. That's one bit I hate about my job."

But she added: "Who could ask for a better job, we just go around playing doctors and nurses. It's never the same, every day is different."