Alison lands a role worth fighting for

7:00am Saturday 22nd November 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Alison Carroll is the new face of Lara Croft in the latest video game in the Tomb Raider franchise Tomb Raider: Underworld, released on Friday November 21. The Croydon gymnast reveals how she came to be picked for the iconic role and what she feels about following in Angelina Jolie's footsteps.

By Kate Whiting

You won't know Alison Carroll's name yet, but if you're a fan of video games or plan to set foot in an HMV before Christmas, you'll soon know her face.

The gymnast from Croydon has been swept away from her day job as a receptionist and trained up in SAS combat - and archaeology - to front the latest Tomb Raider game as the iconic action heroine Lara Croft.

Alison is the first non-model to become the face of Lara. She follows in the footsteps of Nell McAndrew and of course Angelina Jolie, who brought the feisty archeologist to life on the big screen. No pressure then.

"I was nervous at first, but when you're taking on such an iconic gaming character - she's strong, she's confident and she's got that amazing athletic ability - when you're putting on that role, you feel all of those things," says a fresh-faced Alison, when we meet at a London hotel.

She's softly-spoken and demurely dressed, not so much Angelina Jolie as Angelina Ballerina, but her years of gymnastic training mean she's the first Lara who can actually kick butt and do all her own stunts.

At the auditions last year, she impressed the judges more than any other of the hundreds of hopefuls.

"They were all so talented, martial artists, rock climbers and gymnasts like myself," remembers Alison, 23.

"In the audition room, I had to jump up and touch the ceiling in case I was going to hit anything and then I started performing my backflips and somersaults and rolls, you know all the things Lara can do and I got a recall."

The following day, Alison had to try on the skimpy outfit - aka the skin tight t-shirt, boots and hotpants - and she landed the role.

Understandably, she's pretty proud of herself for fulfilling what has been a long-held ambition.

"Ever since I was younger, I've always wanted to play an action heroine, but someone who could do her own stunts and no other model has been able to do that, so Tomb Raider and Lara Croft has given me that opportunity."

Alison was born and brought up in Croydon, Surrey - coincidentally the county where aristocratic Lara resides when she's not raiding historic gems.

At school, she was very hardworking and threw herself into as many sports teams as she could join, while as a professional display gymnast for 12 years, she represented Great Britain and even performed in front of Prince Charles.

"I always got stuck into what I was doing, so I'd always have my homework done, but at the same time, I would spend my whole evening doing activities, basketball, netball, athletics, gymnastics, dance, you name it, I was doing it," she says with a giggle.

"I think it's really important for a child to be trying out different activities, but also to be able to do your work and be focused at school."

Alison speaks like a press officer's dream, she's articulate but always upbeat and she won't be drawn on anything contentious. She's clearly been well prepped.

What does Alison think of Angelina Jolie? "She's absolutely great and if I can follow in her footsteps that's brilliant."

She claims she's prepared for all the male attention the sexy role is bound to bring.

"I'm so used to performing in front of thousands, that although it is a daunting experience, I enjoy it, I love performing in front of people, so you'll have to watch me and see what I do."

Has fellow Croydon lass Kate Moss been a role model?

"She photographs amazingly doesn't she? I suppose I do look up to her."

Alison says her parents and her game-playing brothers are pleased as punch with her new role. She doesn't have time for a boyfriend, but she's willing to consider offers from any men willing to put up with her hectic schedule.

"I'm training all the time and with this job, I'm going to be travelling too, so if there's someone out there who can... who doesn't mind that, then it's fine," she says with a smile.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is the eighth game in the Tomb Raider series, which sees the archeologist on a mission to find Thor's hammer.

The game apparently allows Lara to interact more realistically with her environment for the first time, using a new philosophy termed What Could Lara Do? (WCLD).

"She really interacts with her environment now, she can pick up pots and polls and use them for defence and combat, so the game's entirely changed and the player feels they have more sense of a challenge and choice in what they do."

Creating Lara has been something of a team effort. Her moves were provided through motion-capture by Olympic gymnast Heidi Moneymaker while Ashes To Ashes Keeley Hawes voices Lara, as she's done twice before.

Sets in the game include the coast of Thailand, frozen islands of the Arctic Sea, the jungles of Mexico, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Meanwhile, for her promotional duties, Alison has been touring the world, visiting the likes of South Africa and Dubai.

"I love travelling and really enjoyed horseback riding in the mountains of Greece once. I quite like active holidays, snorkelling, jumping off rocks, all those normal things that a lady likes to do.

"If I can travel round the world like Lara, it's almost simulating what she does," she adds enthusiastically.

Alison is the eighth official face of Lara Croft and it's a role that has proved hugely successful for some of her predecessors.

Rhona Mitra, who portrayed Lara from 1997 to 1998, has gone onto to star in US TV shows and films, while Lara kickstarted Nell McAndrew's glamour modelling and TV career in 1999.

The first film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider also made Angelina Jolie an international star in 2001, long before she met Brad Pitt.

It's unsurprising then, that Alison has acting ambitions.

A year before landing the part, she had graduated from a musical theatre college in London's Covent Garden and she's reportedly signed up for a small role in a comedy horror due out next year called Doghouse.

"I'm definitely interested in acting in films and television and I'd love to be in an action role," Alison admits.

"You should talk to me in a couple of months or a year down the line and see where I've gone!"

:: Alison Carroll is the new face of Lara Croft. The new game Tomb Raider: Underworld is out on Friday November 21.