‘I was on one of the biggest TV shows in the 90s, but I ditched fame ten years ago for a very different job'
IN the 90s, TV show This Life launched the careers of some of the UK's biggest stars.
While Andrew Lincoln went on to star in the Walking Dead, and Jack Davenport appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean – their co-star chose a completely different career path.
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Now Daniela Nardini, who became a fan favourite on the show as straight-talking lawyer Anna Forbes on the show, is now a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT), living life away from the spotlight in Glasgow.
Daniela, now 57, was beloved as Anna on the smash-hit series, which launched in 1996 and followed a group of five friends as they navigated their twenties after graduating law school.
The series saw the gang living together in East London as they try to get their foot on the career ladder, with Anna having a love-hate relationship with Miles (Jack Davenport), whom she had a fling with while studying.
Daniela appeared in 32 episodes of the series, before reuniting with the cast in for TV movie This Life +10, marking the show's 10th anniversary in 2006.
The role won her a BAFTA for Best Actress in 1998.
While she continued to act – starring in multiple episodes of Waterloo Road, plus episodes of Vera and Lewis on her credit list – her performance career later took a backseat to events in her personal life.
In 2020, Daniela told the Daily Mail she had endured 'the worst five years of her life', revealing her father died in 2015, she got divorced shortly after, before being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 2018, getting a mastectomy.
She told the site: 'I went through a very dark period. Sometimes I wonder if it was all the emotional stuff I was going through that caused my cancer.
'A couple of years down the road, I now feel as if I've emerged stronger and a better person really. Anna would be proud.'
However, she noted that her time on This Life feels like 'another life now', and doesn't miss the fame that came with it.
Trailer for 90s Brit drama series This Life
During her recovery, Daniela turned to art therapy to help her process her cancer diagnosis, admitting she 'lost interest in performing'.
'Not because I felt physically I was not right, but I just felt mentally and emotionally not ready,' she explained.
'Acting is a very personal thing for me, as I suppose it is for other actors. But you've only got yourself to use and if there's not much 'self' there to use, it's futile even trying. At its worst, I would have struggled to even remember a line.'
Proud of where she is in her life, Daniela said she came forward with her diagnosis in order to encourage others to get their breasts checked.
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'It took a lot of pain and heartache to get here. But I'm a survivor and I feel strong,' she said.
'I feel like I'm finally the woman I wanted to be.'
After launching her CBT practice from her home in Glasgow, Daniela explained that she felt being an actress helped her understand people on a more fundamental level.
'I have worked as an actress for over 35 years. This has been an invaluable education for me to study what it is to be human and how we can all suffer at times and feel misunderstood and lonely,' she wrote on her psychologist bio.
'I myself have struggled at times. My practice involves helping you gain insight, clarity and believe it or not humour at times. I don't shock easily so I won't judge.'
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