Tamzin's dark side

Just when you thought Tamzin Outhwaite had cornered the market in ballsy blondes, she goes and dyes her hair brown. But the actress best known as Mel, EastEnders' femme fatale, is still right on track. Since escaping Albert Square last year, she's played the strong-headed, lone female sergeant in the military police saga, Red Cap. She was a lying, manipulative, amoral sexual predator in the two-part BBC series, Final Demand, and she starred as a tough-talking single mum in a television film about young offenders, Out Of Control, screened on BBC1 last year.

The Royal Court theatre can therefore count itself lucky to have harnessed such a strong energy for ChéWalker's new play, Flesh Wound. Set on the Somers Town council estate in Camden, it's a gritty, cutting-edge drama. Outhwaite, 32, plays a hard-bitten recluse whose flat at the top of a high-rise block is invaded by her badass brother and shady stepfather.

But all those tough-girl roles are a far cry from the pretty, gamine woman, dressed in girly tones of pink and white, who walks into the Royal Court's swanky restaurant. She shrugs off the suggestion that she might be nervous about returning to the stage for the first time since 1998, when she appeared at Alan Ayckbourn's theatre at Scarborough. 'I feel I'm returning to where I started,' she says matter of factly, in her husky, estuary accent. 'Working at the Royal Court is a godsend. You feel worthy as an actress, like you're mingling with a hive of creativity. The fact it's raw and edgy means I can let my hair down. It's going to be a nice release.'

After training at the London Studio Centre in King's Cross, Outhwaite cut her stage teeth by doing eight years of musicals in the West End - including roles in Grease, Carousel and Oliver!. In stark contrast, Ché Walker's play is to be directed by Wilson Milam, best known for his gutsy work with experimental companies such as Chicago's Steppenwolf.

Like Out Of Control, her character in Flesh Wound shows Outhwaite stripped of glamour. 'Her brother says she hasn't had sex in well over a decade and her appearance needs to suggest that,' she explains. 'She's not a particularly attractive prospect for a man because she's a raw little f***ing fighter.'

You wonder how Outhwaite squares roles like this with being the face of the sweetly suburban Avon cosmetics company. Do the people from Avon know about the seamier side of Tamzin Outhwaite?

'We'll keep the Avon people away from the theatre,' she laughs darkly. But the fact is that the contract, reputed to be worth £250,000, helped to cover the mortgage on her Crouch End flat so she could work at the Royal Court. That and a lucrative agreement to do happening projects for the BBC have helped Outhwaite resist the temptation to follow the likes of Vinny Jones to Hollywood. Otherwise, though, Outhwaite cites travelling as her greatest extravagance. In the past year she's been to Thailand, Australia, France and the Maldives, where she indulges her passion for diving.

Outhwaite was born in Ilford and still sees herself as rooted in her Essex family. She has two younger brothers and her former London cabbie father now runs a video rental business, while her half-Italian mother, who ironically was once an Avon lady, now works as a financial advisor.

'There's been a lot of love in the family and if you've been loved you're not filled with self-hatred,' she says, candidly. 'We all get insecure, but I'm quite fond of myself as a human being. I don't think I'm a bad person. I get self-obsessed when I'm into work - in my own bubble. But I've been brought up to have a lot of care for others.'

Despite her roots, Outhwaite rules out an appearance in the Essex girls' saga, Footballers Wives. 'That doesn't mean I don't watch it, though.' Instead, she's looking for more gritty dramas. Which rules out Chekhov in a pretty period frock? She sighs. 'Period maybe. Chekhov, not sure. It feels like I've crossed a vast variety of roles. But to expect people to believe me in Chekhov might be one step too far.'