Kaya's heading for movie superstardom

If you're over 35, then chances are you haven't heard of Kaya Scodelario - but that's all set to change, given she's just finished shooting the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean movie alongside Johnny Depp.

It's the leading lady spot, vacated by new mum Keira Knightley, but the 23-year-old's keen to point out that "it's a completely different character" that she's playing.

"I respect Keira's career greatly, but we're playing two very different characters," notes the Sussex-born actress, dressed in a checked dress and flower print biker jacket, with new purple streaks in her hair.

"I come from a very different world to Keira and I'd love to be successful into my 30s. She's done great things, but I want to put my own spin on it."

She describes the six-month shoot in Australia as "surreal".

"It was a long job, but wonderful because you step on a set that you recognise from being 10 year old, and there's something really magical about that," she says of the hit franchise, which began in 2003 with first movie, The Curse Of The Black Pearl.

"It takes you back to the basics of film and entertainment, and losing yourself for a few hours. It really felt like we were doing that. It's something fun for families and everyone to enjoy, so I loved the experience of it."

Scodelario, who was brought up by her Brazilian mother after her parents divorced when she was young, acknowledges the impact the movie, slated for a 2017 release, will no doubt have on her personal life.

"You've just got to do it and keep yourself grounded. Do the little things that make you feel normal and happy," she says, "even if that's just getting in your pyjamas and watching X Factor at the weekend.

"I'm lucky, I've got a really great group of friends that don't care about any of this stuff. They want to be friends for friends' sake."

The actress, who's engaged to actor Benjamin Walker, 33 - who was previously married to Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie (he and Scodelario met on the set of The Moon And The Sun in 2014) - also has rising star Nicholas Hoult, who she's known since they worked together on E4 teen drama Skins, on hand for advice.

"Me and Nick are in touch all the time, he's my guardian angel in this industry. Whenever I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed or confused, I'll phone him and he'll talk me down," she reveals. "We've had the same journey, him even more so, so he helps me with that."

Scodelario was just 14 - and minus any acting experience - when she was cast as Effy Stonem in the critically-acclaimed TV series.

She left after the fourth series but later reprised the role for a two-part special, which followed Effy's transition into adulthood. Her first movie was 2009's Moon, followed by Clash Of The Titans in 2010 and Wuthering Heights the following year. But it was her casting in 2014's The Maze Runner which propelled her to the next level.

Based on the young adult novels by James Dashner and set in a dystopian future, the first movie followed a group of boys and Scodelario's character Teresa, whose memories have been erased. On discovering they were trapped in the middle of a maze, the first adventure was all about their escape.

The sequel, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, is about their journey in the desert-like world that's been ravaged by the sun and a deadly virus. As the group attempt to find their place in this inhospitable land, they're chased by Cranks, the living embodiment of the Flare virus, and hunted by the government entity known as World Catastrophe Killzone Department (W.C.K.D.).

As a fugitive story, there was a lot of action and running - in pretty challenging conditions, on a mile-high location in Albuquerque.

"For the first couple of weeks, they took us out to the desert on runs, to get used to the altitude and the climate we'd be working in," says Scodelario, who admits that she and her co-stars could have put more effort in.

"We probably should have done more training, but we like hanging out with each other more, so we'd sneak off and go to the hotel and play video games, when we should have been at the gym. And it bit us in the ass, because it was extremely tough!"

Director Wes Ball has spoken of W.C.K.D. being a metaphor for authority figures and authoritative governments that believe an individual isn't as important as the bigger picture. In the sequel, Teresa questions whether the group should be running from them - or working with them to help find a cure for the disease.

"This is a big group of people and they're not all going to think exactly the same. Teresa's the only one who has her memories back, so she remembers what it was like to have a family and to lose them in a really horrible way. I think that's an isolating feeling for her," explains Scodelario.

"She feels a bit lonely and distant from them [the rest of the group], so it was important for me to show that, because it's part of her arc and part of her decision-making."

It meant the experience was "lonelier" this time round, but she adds, "I like to play with that".

"When I'm at work, I do try and embody it as much as possible."

If that sounds very method, that's because it is, whether intentional or otherwise.

"I guess so. I've never thought about it like that. I don't stay in accent or anything, but internally, I get quite dark and destroy myself a little bit. But that's what I do and I enjoy it. It's how I do my work."

Almost a decade into her career, and with the future looking blindingly bright, Scodelario insists she's not taking anything for granted.

"We're all lucky to be working and I'm glad to be employed," she adds.

"I didn't think it was going to be going on for this long, and I still have that thing where I expect someone to walk in and go, 'What are you doing here? How have you managed to do this?' But it's fun."