Corset-wearing Freema says Dickens was 'liberating'
March 16, 2009 
Freema Agyeman has spoken about her experience of playing a corset-wearing Dickensian character in the TV adaptation of Little Dorrit.
The 29-year-old actress shot to fame last year playing Doctor Who's sidekick, but as well as journeying into the future in the Tardis, she has also stepped back in time to take part in the period drama.
Freema recently revealed that playing a Charles Dickens character was an exhilarating experience because there was so little make-up involved.
"I never entertained getting a Dickens part. It just took imagination, and if you're going to transfer a classic to the screen, it takes a lot of adaptation to do it, so it was just taken that little bit further, without dramatically changing the story," Freema told the Mirror.
"Dickens was really liberating … in the sense you're covered from your neck to your ankles and no make-up at all - we were on high definition so you'd have been able to see powder and everything. It was nice not to worry about how I looked and just focus on my acting."
