Romola Garai feels as if she’s living someone else’s life at the moment. But with films like Atonement, Vanity Fair, I Capture The Castle, Glorious 39 and the recent BBC series of Emma under her belt, it’s not surprising. So how does Romola, who’s continually touted as the next big thing, keep her “surreal” life under wraps? Katherine MacAlister finds out.

Most actors do have a normal life. There is just the odd day when people talk to you as if your life is extraordinary,” Romola tells me pointedly, “like today for example.”

But considering the 28-year-old is sharing the screen with the likes of Keira Knightly, Reese Witherspoon, Bill Nighy and Vanessa Redgrave, she’s the only one who doesn’t consider her meteoric rise anything less than spectacular.

“Well, I didn’t have a game plan or anything,” she laughs. “And I do feel as if I’m living someone else’s life because I never planned to be an actor or go to drama school, and acting doesn’t run in the family. So I’m always expecting someone to come up and say ‘you’ve had your fun, now your time is up’.”

To fill you in, Romola was spotted at 18 by an agent who whisked her away to play the younger version of Dame Judi Dench’s character in the critically-acclaimed The Last of the Blonde Bombshells and she has been sharing the stage and screen with the greats ever since.

So what does she prefer?

“It’s a difficult balancing act but then you need to earn money at the same time and it is easy to think that this medium (film) should be your first priority. But then if you appear in too many films, you don’t get put forward as the obvious choice for plays, and that’s what I love doing. It’s what really gets my blood pumping.”

Which is why Romola is delighted to be starring in Chekhov’s Three Sisters, coming to the Oxford Playhouse from Tuesday.

“Unfortunately some very well known actresses have also played my part very well in the past few years,” she laughs, “so no pressure. But I play the middle sister who is unhappily married, living in a nowhere town and thinking about her future, who then falls in love. So it’s very much a play about the characters, and there is a real need to engage people, which is a challenge.”

Anyone who has seen Romola act will know that won’t be a problem. In Atonement, for example, she played the child responsible for betraying the family with an innocent but terrible lie.

“I think people find me easy to read,” Romola says. “Although those parts are always more of a challenge to play because you have to be someone who hides a lot of things. But it’s all about the perspective you have. And I had read Atonement already and really identified with Kassandra, so I already knew who she was in my own mind. It was a very strong feeling.

“And having played roles like that, and the two strongest female Chekhovian characters on stage (she’s also just finished an RSC run in The Seagull alongside Sir Ian McKellen and Frances Barber) if I was whacked off now, I’d be happy,” she laughs.

Work aside, how does Romola feel about the scrutiny she’s now under, especially at the red carpet dos?

“Well by nature I love having a good time,” she laughs. “But I have come to terms with it. It’s work. It’s not about getting drunk, dancing and having fun. You just can’t do that at those events.”

“I think I was just a bit unprepared for how much of an industry this business is. I thought it was about expressing yourself,” she laughs again. “But you can still have a completely normal life and I ensure that’s the case. I’m not interested in being a public person. So I still go out and see my friends as much as possible. Why do it otherwise if you don’t manage to have a life?” she asks.

I hope she’s finding the time to have fun on the tour instead then? “Of course I’m having fun. It’s the theatre,” she smiles. It’s designed for after hours.”

Three Sisters opens on Tuesday at the Oxford Playhouse. Call the box office on 01865 305305. Pictured, from left, Poppy Miller as Olga, Romola Garai as Masha and Clare Dunne as Irina.