Biography

Laura was spotted as a future talent at the age of 6 by Dustin Hoffman, who had seen her in a play. After the play had finished Dustin went backstage to meet the then child actress.

Following her death, the scriptwriters of Holby City (1999) consulted her mother, Sonja Sadler, to find the most fitting way to write out the much-loved character and actress from the series. Mrs Sadler devised the storyline in which Sandy wins the lottery and secretly leaves the hospital to make a new life for herself in Australia, leaving money for her friends.

Her Grange Hill character was killed after slipping and falling out of a burning building, tragically paralleling her real life death four years later.

Didn't realise she was getting paid for her acting till she was 12, but was glad her Mum didn't tell her.

Continued to feature in eight pre-recorded episodes of Holby City after her death.

[best thing about working on Holby City] Just working with such fantastic people, not just the cast but the crew as well. Who could ask for a better job, we just go around playing doctors and nurses. It's never the same, every day is different.

[on research for role] The production team arranged for me to visit a hospital to see how they really work, it was absolutely invaluable, and amazing to see the doctors and nurses work so well under so much pressure.

[on nerves] I still suffer from nerves and there were quite a few butterflies in my stomach on the first day of filming and at the audition before that too.. luckily, everyone working on the programme couldn't have been nicer, and I settled in very quickly.

[on character Sandy] She's very uncomplicated and sweet natured. There's a gossipy side to her but that's as bad as it gets - there's no bitchiness or nastiness. She's very naive and daffy - I suppose we are quite similar in that, though I'd like to think that I'm a bit brighter than her, though I couldn't nurse anyone to save my life! I've added lots of myself into her so we have quite a bit in common.

[on previous jobs] Painting the toilets in a very grotty nightclub. It was the gents' toilets so it was really disgusting.