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‘Pulp’: Introducing… The Booth Babe

LAURA ROSE (Sarah Alexandra Marks)
LIKES: Hanging out and having fun
DISLIKES: Failure. People thinking she’s dumb.

Laura is the sweet-natured booth babe hired by Tony and the gang to give Junk Comics that oh-so-important glamorous sheen. After all, if there’s one thing guaranteed to make a few comic fans pause it’s a gorgeous girl in a short skirt! Little do they realise, though, that Laura doesn’t just have sex appeal – she’s also got bucketloads of common sense and, despite knowing nothing about comics, quickly becomes invaluable to Tony.

On the surface Sarah Alexandra Marks appears to be the stereotypical booth babe – she’s sexy, sweet, and has wide doe eyes and a girlish giggle that’d make even the most evil supervillain go weak at the knees. Oh, and she’s diddy. Teeny tiny, like a third Minogue sister who’d been separated from her warbling family at birth, sent forward in time and somehow ended up growing up in Romford. She’s the kind of girl you can’t help but want to protect. But don’t be fooled, she’s more like her character than you’d think... Behind those innocent eyes is a fierce determination to get some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

“Everyone thinks the booth girl is just the looks and nothing else”, says Marks, “but she’s not just that. Anyone can be clever, it doesn’t matter how you look.” So how does she feel about people who assume that she’s just a pretty face? “I like proving them wrong. I find [Laura] similar to me - everyone thinks blondes are dumb but I’m not. I have got brains!”

Another thing that Sarah has in common with Laura is that until very recently she knew absolutely nothing about comics, which she now describes as being “in the middle of reading a book and watching a film. It’s pretty cool!” But now she’s learned more, has her perception of the whole geek culture changed? “A geek is someone who has a real love for something. As the shoot’s gone on people start saying ‘yeah, but everyone’s a geek’ and I’m like ‘actually, yeah, I AM a geek!’ But not about comics. I’m a geek about other stuff. Like, I love animals. If I see a dog I will start talking to it like it can understand me - which they SO can - but everyone looks at me like I’m a crazy lady! I definitely consider myself a geek.”

So there we have it: another one out of the closet! Excellent stuff. Sarah tells me that she hopes other ladies who’ve been similarly misjudged will find her character in the movie inspiring. “I want them to watch it and think ‘wow, girl power!’… to see that Laura uses her own initiative and it turns out to be great. I want them to leave thinking ‘I can do anything’.” And she’s got this wicked twinkle in her eye as she says it and something in her smile that hints at a naughty point-proving plan brewing… Watch out, boys!

Images courtesy of AlisonGrangerPhotography and Damian Hayes.

Written by Amelia Tyler

www.twitter.com/ameliatyler

A self-confessed geek with a love of anything involving superpowers, aliens or kickass futuristic weaponry, Amelia is an actress and voiceover artist. She was SyFy's continuity announcer for five years, spends more time online than is healthy, and would one day like to own her very own scutter and/or tribble.

Catch her soon in several movies, including as overly-affectionate Ashley in 'PULP', devious temptress Sarah Smith in 'Wasters', fiesty political protester Charlotte in 'Bad Blood', and Superman's biological mother Lara in 'Superman: Requiem'.

www.twitter.com/ameliatyler