DESPITE working in an industry where everyone prides themselves on having every hair in place, Felicity Jones is refreshingly honest about her own grooming.

The moment we meet to discuss her latest film, she tells me her shirt smells.

“I borrowed it. I think it’s been worn before as I can smell someone else’s sweat, so I apologise,’’ she says matter-of-factly.

Jones has been acting for more than half her life and is now 27 years old – although with her gentle English rose looks could still pass for a teenager.

She played The Archers’ Emma Grundy for a decade and before that a bully called Ethel Hallow in the children’s TV adaptation of The Worst Witch in 1998, but has yet to hit the big time.

That seems likely to change this year, thanks to a lead role alongside Dame Helen Mirren in The Tempest, a triumphant trip to the Sundance Film Festival in January (where her indie drama Like Crazy won her a Special Grand Jury Prize) and her comedic turn in new British film Chalet Girl.

But if she’s feeling at all smug, she doesn’t show it.

"Sundance was quite a life-changing weekend," she says softly. “It was so unexpected. We made this tiny film with a very small crew and the fact that it got such an incredible reception was quite a surprise. I’m just trying to enjoy it."

She admits to being completely unprepared for stardom and says she preferred it when she was just a voice in The Archers: “That’s the best kind of fame because no one can see your face. You’re completely anonymous, but you’ve lived in many people’s kitchens around Britain.

“When I talk to people about what I’ve done, the thing that causes the most excitement is The Archers, without a doubt.

"It’s a big British institution, so it was a great place to start my career."

Her latest role took her from the fictional village of Ambridge to the Austrian ski resort of St Anton, where she had to learn to snowboard pretty quickly after bluffing her way through the audition.

Birmingham-born Jones plays feisty 19-year-old Kim, an ace skateboarder-turned-snowboarder who is forced to learn the skill while working as a chalet girl in the Alps.

“When the producers asked me to play the part, they said, ‘Can you snowboard?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, of course!’ when in fact I’d never touched one. I said I’d love to do it as long as I had a month to prepare."

She took an intensive course of lessons to get up to speed before the film started shooting.

“I did six hours a day and it was pretty gruelling. You fall over so many times you have to forget your ego, as you’re lying on your back squirming around with your instructor laughing at you," she says, her hazel eyes twinkling.

But before long Jones was happily whizzing down slopes: “I didn’t realise adrenalin is actually addictive."

Chalet Girl is a classic fish-out-of-water story, in which Kim goes from flipping burgers in London to serving the high-flying owners of an enormous chalet in Austria in order to support her dad (Bill Bailey) after her mum dies.

“What attracted me to the story was that while all the characters are British, because Kim’s not from a wealthy background, they’re like aliens to her."

Her bosses are none other than Bill Nighy, in suave businessman mode, and Brooke Shields, who plays his prissy wife.

Their main concern is getting their son Jonny (Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick) to propose to his American girlfriend, but when Kim arrives on the scene, she throws a spanner in the works.

With the whole cast, including Bill Bailey and Tamsin Egerton, shipped out to St Anton for the seven weeks of filming, there was little else to do but indulge in some serious apres-ski.

But while most were checking out the local nightlife, Jones was concentrating on something else.

“There was lots of socialising because it was important we all got on with each other. But I would try and practise my snowboarding as much as possible.

"I became this obsessive fiend and my fear of not being able to do it kept me quite disciplined."

In her determination, Jones isn’t that different from her character Kim, who she describes as a “Jane Austen heroine."

“She’s in a situation she wants to escape from, which happens a lot with Austen’s novels.

“I liked her sharpness and the fact she goes into this world that’s completely foreign to her, but doesn’t give up any of herself to become a part of it. I think that’s why you care about her."

Jones starting acting when she was 11, joining a theatre group and performing in school holidays, before winning her role in The Worst Witch.

She chose to go to Oxford University and read English rather than accept a part in a film and has no regrets about putting off her career for a while.

“In retrospect, it was quite a difficult decision to make, but I’m really glad I went.

"I made so many friends that continue to be a big part of my life, it was vital I did that.

“After I finished, I felt I had the guts to give acting a go,’’ she continues.

“If you want to act, it’s such a strong feeling inside of you. And you never know if you don’t try, do you?’’ With her Tempest co-star Helen Mirren already calling her a “wonderful actress’’, Jones looks set to be a big name in future.

But then, she has learnt from the best.

“The most incredible thing about Bill Nighy and Helen Mirren is they’ve got so much experience, but they retain that joy as though it’s their first job.”