She first found TV fame at the tender age of 16 when she was still a Rochdale school girl - and actress Katie McGlynn has not stopped working since. She has gone on to win prestigious industry awards for her extraordinary performance as dying mum Sinead Tinker in Coronation Street.
Now, Katie is making her professional theatre debut in the new production of Peter James' thriller Wish You Were Dead, which heads to The Lowry Theatre next week.
Yet former Corrie and Hollyoaks star Katie reveals she still suffers from "imposter syndrome", where an individual doubts their accomplishments, despite the success of her career.
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We catch up at The Lowry, where Katie reflects on her career so far. She says: "I always wanted to go to drama school, but then I got a job on TV when I was 16, and then got the role of Scout on Waterloo Road when I was 17 and the rest is history.
"It is a bit mental really, and I do feel super lucky, but I guess that's why I've always had imposter syndrome because it always just kind of happened for me, I didn't plan it.
"Acting is something I've always been super passionate about and I always put first, I'd be at drama class every week without fail from the age of 8, I'd put it before everything because I just loved it.
"But I've never been to drama school and always worked on TV. I've always felt like "do I know what I'm doing?" because I've not been to RADA. But I've always just kind of had a job, I guess it's like being an apprentice."
Katie, 29, is being extraordinarily modest, given the impact of her career so far. She won Royal Television Society and National TV awards for her role as Sinead on Coronation Street, in the moving storyline of the young mum diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Performing alongside Rob Mallard as her partner Daniel, the duo would win huge acclaim for their portrayal of the storyline and raising awareness of early testing for cervical cancer.
Katie says: "When people would come up to us and thank us for doing that story, we felt really odd, we were actors pretending to be people, I felt a bit like "I'm Katie, I'm from Littleborough, what am I doing here?"
"But at the same time I'm so unbelievably proud of that story and the impact we ended up making is amazing. I still get people coming up to me now, or messaging me, thanking me for the story, and telling me their stories, and I always take time to speak to people about it because it is important.
"We raised so many issues with that story and it's something I'll never forget, a special moment in my life and the best thing I've done in my career. It was intense, don't get me wrong, but I loved being able to do that.
"I've learned so much and I still want to carry on learning because that's life and I just love what I do. I'm super professional with every job that I do. I just want to carry on with my career because it's my passion and what I love to do."
Making her professional stage debut in the Peter James thriller is another milestone for Katie. She will play pathologist Cleo Morley opposite George Rainsford as DSI Roy Grace - characters already hugely popular thanks to the success of both James' written work and the TV spin off series Grace.
Katie says: "I have watched the TV shows, and obviously read the books. Ultimately I remember Peter saying he wants every actor to do their own interpretation because everyone reading has their own imagination of what the character will be like.
"I think everyone who watches Grace will love this production. Cleo and Roy have had a little baby now, they're about to jet off on honeymoon, they're at a different stage of life.
"You kind of see a different side to them because they're on holiday, they're wanting to forget all the stuff from work, they want to relax and have family time -although this is a thriller of course so it doesn't quite go to plan.
"It's quite relatable because everyone has had a holiday that's not quite what they expected. It is a thriller, so you are going to be on the edge of your seat, but there are some comedy elements in there as well."
Performing at The Lowry next week is a "real pinch me moment", says Katie. She beams: "I feel so happy, it's a pinch me moment that I'm playing at The Lowry.
"I've been going there for years, it's home turf and I've seen so many plays there.
"I'm over the moon to be playing in my hometown. It's lovely, but it's also daunting, because I'm probably going to know half the people in the audience, so that just puts me under pressure more. At the same time it's nice, and I feel extremely humbled to be able to do this."
Looking out across from The Lowry, Katie will be able to see her "old home" of Coronation Street, at the ITV studios every day.
She smiles: "It's going to be strange, I've got so many memories of MediaCity because of Corrie, but yet playing somewhere else and yet seeing Corrie across the road at the same time. It will be like going down memory lane."
Meanwhile, with the BBC giving Waterloo Road a major reboot has been another walk down memory lane for Katie. She played schoolgirl Scout in the original series, but the interest in the school-set drama has had fans begging her to return!
She laughs: "I found this weird that people were recognising me more and more from Waterloo Road recently, then I found out they were showing all the old eps again.
"When I found out they were redoing it I thought that's so good because it was a brilliant show.
"I'd never say never to going back, it would be really interesting to see what Scout is doing now. It was such a great experience and I learned so much on that show.
"But I just feel old now, it was about 12 years ago it's just bizarre!"
Wish You Were Dead is at The Lowry Theatre from May 23 to May 27. For tickets, from £20, see thelowry.com
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