KAREN DAVID aka Francesca of Waterloo Road

Hi there, your admin Mike asked if I would come here. I am Karen David.

WELCOME ONBOARD KAREN!!!!

From Wikipedia.....

Karen Shenaz David (born 15 April 1979) is an Indian-born English actress and singer-songwriter who is best known for portraying Francesca Kirby (née Montoya) in the BBC series Waterloo Road.



Karen was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India to a Khasi-Chinese mother from a matriarchal Himalayan family and an Indian father of Jewish ancestry. She was raised Catholic. She was raised in Toronto, Canada before moving to England to study at the Guildford School of Acting.



Karen subsequently appeared in the original cast of Mamma Mia! and worked with Indian composer A. R. Rahman in developing material for Bombay Dreams. She collaborated with Rahman on the main theme song for the film Provoked.

Karen has also appeared in several feature films including Flight of Fury and The Colour of Magic, and appeared as the female lead in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

IN SCORPION KING 2

Karen was cast in BBC's Waterloo Road as a Spanish teacher named Francesca Montoya. She has played this role since the start of Series 6 in 2010. This role culminated in her being arrested for having a relationship with a student (Jonah Kirby) at the end of the sixth series in April 2011 and even getting married to Jonah before being arrested. She revealed she will not appear in series 7.








Karen also stars in the CBBC series Pixelface, about a video game character a lot like Lara Croft, fighting lions and dragons.

IN PIXELFACE

She released her first single "It's Me (You're Talking To)" in 2003, which was a top 10 airplay hit in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. She has finished working on her highly anticipated debut album, "Me vs. Me", with acclaimed producers such as A.R. Rahman, Johnny Douglas, and the Bombay Dub Orchestra. Prior to releasing her solo work, she was the lead vocalist on Dutch Dance musician/producer DJ Jurgen's 2000 eurodance single "Higher & Higher."

Karen released the song "Superheroes" on June 6, 2011 as the lead single from her debut album, "The Girl in the Pink Glasses".

What the BBC's Waterloo Road website says about Francesca....

Cesca has always found teaching Spanish easy, her mother is a native Spanish speaker who taught Cesca and her three sisters the language from year dot, so she's a natural. Cesca teaches for the long holidays and a chance to travel the world. Highly attractive, she's sexually confident, and is flirty even with the students. Her classes are bold and fun; Cesca loves clubbing but is bright and vivacious enough to run her classes the next day. She's young enough to burn the candle at both ends, and does her job well. She's compassionate and often finds herself drawn into other people's problems, a personality trait which will find her in hot water over the course of the term.
.

A few weeks ago 'Grantly Budgen' was kind enough to answer some questions for us and, talking about Waterloo Road, he said....

"Yes the storylines are a bit far fetched but who would want to see teachers filling in forms and completing paperwork for an hour? We have to use dramatic licence.

Lots of us forget lines from time to time and today Chalky , Tom and I had a terrible fit of the giggles . the more serious the scene the harder it is to keep a straight face.

I hugely enjoyed that storyline (when Fleur went into care) as it gave me something dramatic to do rather than "sniping" from behind a newspaper. I loved working with Lorraine Cheshire (Fleur) and , of course , having Denise Welch back was great.

I believe it is important for the show to tackle relevant and topical issues for school age children. It is amazing how often we shoot a storyline and then see the same topic in the news soon after.

Without doubt the biggest joker on WR was Denise Welch . She could be in the middle of telling a rude story but when the director called action she immediately became Steph Haydock . Quite a feat! Mark Benton runs her a very close second though. He never fails to make me giggle . He has a naturally funny face and if I know he is looking at me and trying to make me giggle then I don't have to see him - I just start giggling. Will Ash who played Chris Mead was serious but lovely nevertheless . My closest friends on the show are Jason Done (Tom) and Denise."

Have you any good stories you can tell us about Waterloo Road? Any funny moments? And who were your closest friends?

Hi Karen

The Cesca/Jonah storyline was hot!! What was it like from your side of the camera? Did it seem a controversial plot to you or just part of the daily job? Did you get any nasty comments about it from viewers?

You were awesome in Waterloo Road. Is there any chance you will go back on the series?

Otherwise, might we see you in one of the soaps? Which would you like to be in?

And I'd love to see you on Strictly Come Dancing? Haven't you been asked yet?

I am really envious of your looks and sexy figure. Do you have to work hard to keep it like that or does it come naturally? Have you ever worked as a model??

Hi,

I didn't know you sang till I heard Superheroes. I liked that a lot and was surprised it wasn't more successful. Were you disappointed and what are your recording plans?

Hi and welcome Karen
Nearly everyone using this website has some connection with Southampton, have you ever visited Southampton, do you have any memories of the place? (Oh, and do you support a football team?)