Alice Patten speaks softly with an endearing feminine charm and an elfin grin that suggests a protected upbringing. A graduate from Cambridge, with a degree in modern languages, she is happy to have taken up acting although, the life of an actor, like that of a politician is public, unreliable and is constantly being judged.

She spent five months in India working with Aamir Khan for Rang De Basanti and thoroughly enjoyed the Bollywood experience. Prior to Rang De… she had acted in several plays in London such as, Nicholas Wright's Vincent In Brixton and more famously, Cigarettes And Chocolates, directed by Anthony Mighella, maker of the Oscar-award winning film, The English Patient. Alice is also the youngest daughter of Lord Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, before it was ceded to the Chinese. Positive about the modernity and dynamism of Hong Kong, she recalls the tears and Prince Charles fixing her a stiff gin as they sailed out on Britannia, in 1997.

Personally… "I don't think having a well-known father helps me get roles, though it may attract interest."