‘Outnumbered’ star Ramona Marquez discusses growing up in the public eye: “You do feel vulnerable”

nme.com:

Outnumbered star Ramona Marquez has spoken about her experience of growing up as an actor ahead of the show’s Christmas special next week.Marquez, who is now 23, was just six when the BBC One show began airing in 2007.

She played Karen Brockman, the youngest of three children to frazzled parents Pete (Hugh Dennis) and Sue (Claire Skinner), and sister to Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey) and Ben (Daniel Roche).The sitcom ran for five seasons, the final season airing in 2014, before coming back for a Christmas special in 2016.

Now, eight years later, it’s back for another special – marking the longest gap between episodes in the show’s history.Marquez was five when she began filming Outnumbered and 13 when it ended, but told The Independent that, while she might have been in the public eye more than most children, it felt normal for her.“I’ve never known any different,” she said. “I was so young.

I do have some memories from before I was five, but not many. I hear about other instances in TV where young kids were exploited, and I feel lucky that we were always respected.”However, she said that the media coverage could sometimes be more difficult for the Outnumbered kids as they grew up.