IF Disney’s Princess Jasmine were to ever walk among us, there is a high chance she may look just like the actress sitting opposite me in Millfield House last Friday. Huge, sparkling brown eyes, glossy, just-stepped out of salon hair, and faultless, glowing skin, Caroline Koutsoudes is the perfect candidate to play the stifled royal who falls for the cheeky charms of street urchin Aladdin in this year’s pantomime.

Of course, it helps that Caroline, who grew up in north east London is much more than just a pretty face and can also sing and act. In fact, as a child, Caroline graced the stage of the Millfield Arts Centre on several occasions and when she was just 12-years-old it was the setting for her first ever concert after winning a singing competition on the radio.

“We booked the Millfield and it sold out really quickly,” the 30-year-old actress recalls.

Now all grown up, Caroline, who has previously starred as the princess in Poole and Grimsby, is back on the Millfield stage for her debut pantomime on home turf.

“I said I wasn’t going to be in panto this year because I wanted to be at home for Christmas,” she tells me.

“Then I heard they were putting it on here and I got an audition. I was really ill when I came in, really bunged up with swollen glands, but I really wanted to do it, so I just got through it. It’s five minutes from my home, my parents are nearby and I have loads of family round here, so it’s perfect.”

As a seasoned ‘princess’, Caroline, who studied performing arts at Middlesex University, explains this character is “much more agreeable” than those she has played before, but stresses there are similar challenges to the part.

“It’s hard to get your teeth into a princess,” she admits, “so I’m trying to give her more dimensions. Rather than a stroppy teenager, I have tried to make this one more confident, a bit more playful, just to give her a bit more edge and an injection of life and character.”

A rising star on stage and screen, Caroline turned her attention to acting after leaving the “fickle” music industry some nine years ago, but has never lost her talent for singing.

Her vocals are, of course, put to good use in this production, but can also be heard on the recently released charity album Coming Home by The Soldiers. “It’s just gone gold, which is a little bit exciting,” Caroline beams.

But, getting back to the project in hand, Caroline says she never regrets giving up the lonely recording studio for the “family feel” of the theatre.

“Rehearsals are really good fun – there is laughter the whole way through, it’s just really warm and that’s how you get the energy up on stage,” she says.

“You can tell when sat in the audience if the cast are having a genuine fun time and with this company everybody is so lovely it’s been really easy to get that family feeling.”

Aladdin runs at the Millfield Arts Centre from Thursday, November 26 to Sunday, January 3. Tickets: 020 8807 6680 or www.milfieldartscentre.co.uk