Can Natalie Bend It Like Beckham when new musical opens tonight?

“My ambition wasn’t to do football, but in terms of acting certain members of my family were like ‘that’s very nice but maybe you could be a lawyer and dabble with that on the side’.”

The 28-year-old will be starring in the stage adaptation of the 2002 film starring as Jess Bharura, a football-mad teenager from Hounslow who has been forbidden to play by her Punjabi Sikh Indian parents.

“The thing I identify with most is that push and pull,” explains Natalie, “between what I want to achieve and also understanding that your family want you to be happy and want the career you choose to help you be happy, and on paper being in the acting profession is so risky.”

Natalie was born in Malaysia to an Indian Malaysian mother and Wiltshire-raised father, but when she was still young her parents decided to make the 6,533-mile journey to Devon and encouraged her to adopt the culture and traditions of her new home, and as a result Natalie admits that until recently she knew almost nothing of her Asian heritage.

“I think being mixed race is a curse and a blessing in many ways and especially being second generation in this country.

“I’m very proud to be British and I have a lot more of a cultural pull to this country and can’t really tell you a lot about my Indian and Malaysian history, which is probably quite bad.”

In fact it was a trip to see the classic English musical Cats, aged five, that would change her life forever.

“I dressed in the full outfit with a cat ear headband, and one of the actors came up and took it and went on stage with it and I could not have been more excited to have officially been involved in the show. It was that feeling of ‘this looks amazing, I want to be part of this’.”

Initially her parents thought drama classes were a good way for her to meet other children, but Natalie took the opportunity to hone her acting skills and was eventually accepted into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

“As soon as I got into a drama school my mum was 100 per cent there and sorting my room out and making sure my cupboard was overly full of food”, says Natalie whose father sadly passed away when she was 14.

Her first professional role was Olivia in Twelfth Night at the Liverpool Everyman, and she’s also starred in Romeo and Juliet at the National Theatre, as Ophelia in Hamlet at the Northern Broadsides, and on the small screen she’s had parts in Lewis and Gavin & Stacey.

“I’m very rarely cast as Indian or Malaysian,” she muses, “Oddly I’m normally cast as either Arabic or just English. It’s odd because you don’t fit in anywhere but also that means you can fit in everywhere.”

She had a jolt of recognition when she first saw the film Bend It Like Beckham, starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, and says: “I could not believe there was this girl, who did sort of look a bit like me and the story was about her being English more than her Indian side.

“Jess is very Western and that’s one of the arguments of the play ‘where do you fit in?’ because you completely acknowledge one side of your family but you are living in a different culture, which you want to be fully part of as well.”

Jamie Campbell Bower and Natalie Dew, photo Uli Weber

Jess with the cast of Hounslow Harriers, Bend It Like Beckham, photo Uli Weber

Sharan Phull, Preeya Kalidas, Serina Mathew, photo Uli Weber

Playing the role has actually made Natalie want to know more about her Malaysian heritage.

“Most of your teenage life you are just trying to fit in and then you do get to that stage where you actually are quite interested. I was lucky enough to go to Malaysia at the beginning of the year, just before we started rehearsals, and saw where my mum was born. I suddenly got a glimpse of a real human being instead of just a parent.

“The biggest thing me and my mum miss from our Malaysian side is the food – it’s the best in the world. I love cooking and the best thing mum has given me from that side is a love of food.”

However, traditional dress is one thing Natalie is relieved not to have to embrace as her character is mostly clad in football kits and slouchy tracksuits.

“It was my grandmother’s 80th birthday a couple of years ago and I had to wear a sari. My god I was so unbelievably hot and going to the toilet suddenly became a big decision. I had new-found respect for my gran who just flowed around like this gorgeous lady in blue.”

Despite feeling a connection with the role, Natalie says she came close to not even auditioning as she had never done a musical before, and it took numerous singing lessons before she finally landed the part at the end of last year.

“I feel really lucky to be part of this musical as I don’t think I have ever seen British culture being represented so diversely and so truthfully and with a real sense of pride that this is who we are,” says the Stoke Newington actress.

“Even with the cast there are people from all over the place – a real mix. Without any other heritage or culture being brought from other counties, we wouldn’t be the London and Britain we are, and I think people just need to be fully proud of the mixed-bag we are. We really are just a mongrel of a country in that way and that’s amazing.”

The nature of creating a new show means there have been constant rewrites and Natalie has had the challenge of trying to master the songs and dance routines and another vital ingredient of British culture and the show for the first time – football.

“I could not tell you anything about it,” she admits. “Aside from the fact I was obsessed with Michael Owen and just very much supported his career,” she giggles.

A member of Tottenham Hotspur Ladies has been training her and co-star Lauren Samuels, who plays Jules, and Natalie has been sweating it out practising her keepy-uppys.

“The most I have done is 15, but please don’t get excited because that was about an hour of me in the park weeping because it was so frustrating!”

Aside from the physical challenges, Natalie says the role is also quite tough emotionally, but working with Gurinder Chadha, who wrote and directed the film and has now adapted it for the stage, along with the female-led cast is a joy.

“It’s amazing. It’s girl power, which if you are doing a 2001 show, is great. When you see us on stage as a chorus of women it’s great and you can’t help but get a bit of a shiver down your spine.”

When it comes to role models she says: “I’ve been so lucky with the people that I have worked with that I’ve only ever had to look around the room to get inspiration.

“Apart from that I would say my dad and my mum. My dad was a great supporter and I’m very happy to do this for them.

She adds: “It’s amazing because all of the pieces I would ever do in my life my mum would probably understand this more than any of the Shakespeare or anything I have ever done.

“It’s going to be hugely emotional anyway, but I’m glad to be able to give this back and say thanks.”

Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0JP, opens May 15. 

Details: benditlikebeckhamthemusical.co.uk