Interview with Alison Carroll

Touring as Lara, which location has been most memorable?

So far, probably Germany. The games convention there was brilliant, but last week we did some other things in Germany and I got to do some really cool activities. I went rock-climbing so that was brilliant and had to challenge the presenters to see who could get up there quicker.

Have you done any rock-climbing before?

I'd done quite a bit of rock climbing before, so I was alright (laughs). Then we did some canoeing, another past Lara experience, and I got to drive a Maserati.

Were you scared of crashing it?

Not really, I just went as fast as I could!

Of all the skills you've learnt as Lara, such as weapons training etc, which one have you enjoyed most?

I haven't done the weapons training yet, or the SAS training, that's going to be brilliant. That and the archaeology course is all done over in eastern Europe, so I'm really looking forward to doing that. The one skill I'm really please I've learnt though is the scuba diving and I got to learn to do it in about twenty minutes!

What was it like doing the underwater shoot? From what we've seen it looks really good!

Did you like it? It was an amazing experience doing the underwater shoot. Actually I can tell you a little story about about that. Literally, I learnt to scuba dive in twenty minutes, and then I went down without any equipment on. I had two guys there, one tapes me... well, ties me to the bottom, and another guy who's feeding me oxygen who has two mouth pieces: one for himself and one for me. So we go down, and I needed more air (does the 'more air' hand gesture) but the thing got caught, so there was some panic, but he gave me his mouthpiece so he had no oxygen, then the guy who tied me down had to give him his mouthpiece, so we were all interlinked whilst the guy at the bottom's trying to untie me, but we managed to get up to safety. Lara Croft survived! (laughs)

What's it been like to inherit such a legion of cult fans?

Oh wow, it's amazing. You know, the best bit about travelling around is meeting the fans. I'm always reading the forums, trying to get feedback, all that kind of thing, because ultimately Tomb Raider and Lara Croft are for the fans. The fans are the most important people and I want to please them, but it's just amazing. In Poland I went to a store signing, and at the store they had this big banner with me on it, and about three hundred Polish fans turned up; how cool is that? It's so surreal.

What inspired you to want to become Lara Croft?

Ever since I was young I wanted to be an action hero who could do her own stunts, so I’m pretty much living the dream playing this part! I’m a trained actress as well, so my agent put me up for the job.

Have you done any modelling before?

Hadn’t done any modelling, no, but had done a lot of acting and dancing.

What’s it like representing one of the biggest female role models on the planet?

Daunting! And an amazing privilege to be playing the part. Who wouldn’t want to play Lara Croft?

From a woman’s perspective, which of Lara’s character traits do you admire the most?

Probably her independence; she is very strong-minded, she goes out and gets what she wants and she’s always up for a challenge. I’m kind of like that as well, but I think she is more so.

At the time Lara Croft first appeared, Girl Power was popular. How do you think Lara has empowered women?

Lara is a role model, to girls and to boys really. The fact that she worked hard at her studies, she’s very intelligent and knowledgeable, very fit and maintains a healthy lifestyle, that’s definitely a good thing to broadcast to women and to men.

What does Lara do to let her hair down?

If Lara Croft is anything like me, and if I’m anything like Lara, then the thing I like to do is go out running. If you go running, or doing exercise, you feel so free, and I think that’s what Lara would do to let her hair down.

Have you played through Underworld? What are your impressions of the game?

I’ve played snippets, but I haven’t had time! (laughs) Have you seen the Kraken room? It’s superb! The whole thing is a complete puzzle. In previous games it’s been very linear, and you kind of work your through, but here you feel like you’re really part of Lara Croft’s adventure because you have to make the decision on what you’re going to do, and that makes the problem-solving much more challenging, and there’s so much choice within the game. It is so much more believable, so much more detailed, and the water just looks beautiful; the bubbles all coming through it, and the jellyfish!

What’s your favourite Tomb Raider game?

Anniversary is the one that I’ve played. My brothers are complete Tomb Raider addicts so they’ve played all the games. When the first one came out I was too young to play it, so whilst my brother was always playing, I’d be looking over his shoulder saying ‘I want to play it!’ (laughs)

I know it’s rude to ask a lady’s age, but how old are you?

23!