She may have been described as 'the new Keira Knightley', but 23-year- old actress Felicity Jones has her feet firmly on the ground.

"Don't believe the hype!" she laughs. "It's all terribly daunting. You don't want to be too aware of the reception to what you do."

This week, in the second one-off drama in ITV1's Austen season, viewers will see the relatively unknown actress in her biggest television part yet, playing heroine Catherine Moorland in the Andrew Davies adaptation of Northanger Abbey.

"I really wanted this part," Felicity confides. "Sometimes when you read a script, you think 'God, I'd love to do that.'"

The drama kicks off with Catherine leaving her country home and entering into the debauchery of Bath society.

Felicity says: "She's fresh, has this wonderful optimism about people and is very accepting of the world around her, which ends up getting her into trouble."

And her life is complicated further when two men end up vying for her attention - the dashing cad John Thorpe (William Beck) and gentle, sincere Henry Tilney (JJ Field).

"Catherine is so willing to please, she gets carried away with both of them for different reasons," Felicity says. "Henry Tilney is someone who has quite a paternal role in her life, whereas John is much more the bad boy. But once she realises he's not quite what she wants, she very quickly moves on from John to Henry."

Running parallel to the drama of Catherine's love life is her fascination with gothic novels, shown in a variety of fantasy sequences. Her imagination runs away with her when she's invited to stay at creepy Northanger Abbey by Henry's severe father General Tilney.

"The fantasy sequences were really lovely experiences, because I'd be doing something completely different every day," Felicity says. " One day, I'd be trying to horse ride quite unsuccessfully, and then I'd be doing these weird dream sequences on hills in the middle of Ireland, running in this huge white nightgown. And for some reason they chose to film in a field full of cow pats, so I was dragging this poo along on my nightdress! But right from the very beginning, you get an insight into Catherine's thoughts through these dream sequences, and for her developing affections for Henry Tilney, which come out in these kind of sexual dreams."

Factors

But there were other, less straightforward factors involved in the role. Not least, having to learn to ride and dance.

"I had to learn how to canter side saddle which proved very difficult, especially when you've got quite a jumpy polo horse who won't do what he's told," Felicity smiles.

"With the dancing, we had to really practise because these dances would have been such a part of their lives and they would have known them so well. We spent weeks learning them and making sure we could do it exactly right."

And of course, Felicity has the obligatory kissing scene at the end, when Catherine gets together with Henry Tilney.

"There's this repressed sexual tension and then it bursts out when Henry asks Catherine to marry him," Felicity explains. "It wasn't my first kissing scene. I've done them before. It becomes quite mechanical, really. Another day at the office. You just get on with it!"

Despite Austen's tendency towards happy romantic outcomes for her characters, Felicity doesn't share her rose-tinted optimism.

"I'm not a romantic," she says. "I'd like to say that I was, but actually I'm quite cynical. I'm a realist. So it's lovely playing someone who's a romantic like Catherine, especially when you're not.

"In Austen's time, money affected marriage, whereas now we have a much more romantic notion of love," Felicity adds. "You marry for love, and not really for financial gain. It wasn't necessarily about falling head over heels in love with someone - it was about making a good match."

Although she's a relatively new face to TV audiences, Felicity is actually no stranger to the small screen, appearing in shows like ITV1's The Worst Witch and BBC One costume drama Servants as a teenager, before taking a break to study English at Oxford University.

"I've been acting since I was 11 years old, after I passed an audition at the Central Junior Television Workshop," says Felicity, who's originally from Birmingham. "We'd do plays and look at scripts. It was more of a social thing at first, but now I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it. And when I did plays at university, it really cemented my desire to act."

Grundy fame

And at 15 years old, Felicity landed the role of Emma Grundy on Radio Four serial drama The Archers, something which, despite her growing public profile, she's keen to continue.

"It's a part of my life now," she smiles. "People get more excited about it than anything else!"

Being relatively anonymous on the radio is one thing, but is Felicity prepared for public recognition after Northanger Abbey transmits to the nation?

"Absolutely not!" she declares vehemently. "I use public transport too much. At the moment, I don't get recognised, especially living in London. Perhaps I'll change my hair so that no one will recognise me, although I won't start wearing sunglasses - that'll attract more attention!"

Following Northanger Abbey, Felicity went on to film new Channel 4 drama Cape Wrath alongside David Morrissey, and is now preparing to appear in the play That Face at the Royal Court Theatre.

It seems she's well on her way to emulating some of her acting heroines.

"Samantha Morton is incredible in everything she does," she says. " And then there's people like Helena Bonham Carter who's done costume dramas early in her career then done completely different things. I like the thought of doing things that are slightly on the edge."

In the meantime, she admits she won't be watching herself on screen this coming Sunday. "I'll be cringing," Felicity laughs. "I saw it already in a big screening room which was a little weird. Every little thing is amplified. It's probably not very healthy to watch yourself.

"Will I read the reviews? No probably not," she smiles. "It's good to stay clear of them. I think you've just got to get on with what you're doing and do the work the best you can. You can't help it if people don't like what you do."

Felicity Jones stars as Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey on ITV1 on Sunday, March 25