Actor, beautician and travel enthusiast, Zoya Nasir is known for her ability to channel different characters and personalities in her performances to date, giving us a glimpse of her massive potential in the industry. The actor has excelled in both serious and comic roles, having been born to follow her passions of acting after spending time on movie sets with her family.

Zoya's conviction in the field and popularity seems to be consistently increasing with stellar performances in dramas such as Deewangi, Hania and most recently Zebaish. We've asked the actor a few in depth questions about her own thoughts on the characters she has played, as well as her journey within the world of acting so far!

Q. What first got you interested in pursuing acting?

I was born into this profession. It's been passed down to me from my granddad and my dad. I grew up on movie sets and I always knew I wanted to be an actor.

Q. Being a beautician and makeup enthusiast yourself, do you prefer doing your own makeup on set as well?

To be honest the makeup for television and for real life are very different so initially I made a few mistakes and learned to leave it to the professionals.

Q. Your acting in Zebaish has garnered a lot of attention from the public for being a ‘believable‘ character. Do you agree with this statement?

Yes I do. It's believable because it's a grey character with its good and bad qualities. In our TV plays we portray our negatives and positives to the extreme. As if the good person has no bad qualities and vice versa. It's not like that in real life. But Tashi has both. She's ambitious. She loves her husband, hates her mother-in-law, loves her step-dad and keeps emotions away from her decisions. She may have more negative traits but I love how Bushra ji kept it so believable by putting in the cool, calm and collected traits in Tashi as well.

Q. In playing Natasha, how do you perceive this (antagonistic) character in comparison to your other roles as Narmeen in Deewangi or Hania?

Narmeen's world revolved around Sultan and she just wanted him in her life, wanted him to love her. She just wanted what she couldn't have and had no higher ambitions. A very self entitled character.

Hania was a submissive character, ready to do anything for her family's honour and pressurised by society. She was always ready to put everyone else before her.

Tashi is an ambitious and driven girl. Who wants unlimited success and power and is ready to do anything to get it. With minimum emotions at display. A realist in her own equation.

They're all miles apart from each other.

Q. What have you heard so far about your performance in Zebaish? Are people surprised by Tashi’s manipulative skills?

I'm actually surprised at the feedback. People love how I kept it so balanced and so believable. I'm getting a lot of admiration and appreciation and I couldn't be more grateful!

Q. Your character Hania was extremely different compared to your roles in Deewangi and as Natasha in Zebaish. Do you enjoy the diversity in roles?

I live for diversity. I love that about life and my work. Being an actor you get the chance to live a new life, be a new person with every new project and work with new people, so why do the same thing twice?

Q. What was it like starring in a comedy role in the Eid Telefilm ‘Ranchorr Line Ki Rajjo’?

Nothing has ever come more naturally to me than comedy. It's my favorite genre to play and I really do hope I end up doing more than a comedy telefilm.

Q. Was the experience in a comedy role difficult to transition into after relatively serious roles?

Not at all! It was as easy as pie. With negatives or positives, it takes me a day or two to break in to the character but being Aimen in Ranchorr line Ki Rajjo was aced in the first shot. Like I said, comedy comes naturally to me.

Q. What role would you ideally be interested in playing in the future?

I'd love to do a comedy play or a movie. Not the silly antics one, but a situational one. I love to make people laugh.

Q. Favourite performance or acting experience with a costar (or in general) to date?

That's a tough question but if I had to choose I'd say Narmeen is my favourite so far.

I loved working with Osama Tahir. It was my debut and he helped me through a lot!

Q. Any word of advice for budding actors?

Don't worry about the retakes. Don't feel pressured to rush through the scene. Breath, keep calm and nail it. When the camera is rolling, nothing else matters but your performance.