Emmerdale's Karen Blick was "lecturing undergraduate acting students" before she landed the full-time part of Lydia Hart.
Since debuting as Sam Dingle's girlfriend on the soap, Karen has won over thousands of fans for her performance, but she very nearly quit acting before the opportunity came about.
Discussing her small screen and theatrical experience prior to Emmerdale, Karen said she'd got some "decent roles" as a jobbing actress, "but it was hard" (via The Mirror).
She describes joining the ITV soap as "an absolute dream come true", elaborating: "it was wonderful. I'm a Yorkshire-based actress and I've got a fantastic role in a Yorkshire-based soap.
"When Emmerdale came along, I was lecturing undergraduate acting students at my old college in Halifax."
Karen credits her husband Simon and their two kids for keeping her feet on the ground, but also admitted that the couple "had conversations over the years where I've said, 'OK, maybe I'll give this up.' And he's always said, 'Give it another year, stick at it.'
What to Read Next
"When we got to go to the [British] Soap Awards together we clinked some champagne glasses and said, 'Can you believe this?'"
Emmerdale currently airs weekdays at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Read more news, spoilers and gossip on our Emmerdale homepage
Digital Spy Soap Scoop video – hit play below for all the latest Emmerdale spoilers, as Leyla has an idea to deal with Jacob, and Moira interferes in Nate's love life.
Want up-to-the-minute soaps news, spoilers and gossip on your social feeds? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Soaps Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @soapscoop Twitter account.
