My life: Meghan Markle

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I double majored in theatre and international relations and then I worked for the United States embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I've always loved acting. I was such a ham as a child. My dad is a lighting director, so I grew up on the set of [1990s sitcom] Married … with Children, a funny place for a little girl. I didn't know where that would end up leading me, whether I'd end up acting or be on the other side of the camera. I'd always been intrigued with politics, too, but when I was actually able to start making a living as an actress I realised that was where my heart was.

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I had gone home for the holidays and a friend from college had invited me to a party. There was a manager there. My friend gave him a student film I had made with her and he called me and said: "You're going to make money and I want to take 10 per cent." It was very lucky, come to think of it, just to have someone give you a break so easily. It was like getting discovered at Schwab's [a popular hangout for movie actors and industry dealmakers, where Hollywood legend has it, Lana Turner was discovered]. But that doesn't mean it was always easy. No matter what gets your foot in the door, you have to be able to get all of you in the door. At one of my first auditions, I just had this moxy; maybe it came from working at the embassy, but I had confidence. I had gone in for a film and the part was Girl No1 and the line was: "Hi." That was it. The director and the casting people were there, and he said: "Can you say, 'Hi'?" And I said, "I can. However, I've read the script and I really respond to this other role and I'd like to audition for that." This panic spread across the room because who does that? Who takes that sort of risk?