The daughter of movie hard man, Ray Winstone, is about to move into action. Jaime is making the most of comic book stardom in Phoo Action. Steve Pratt reports

BECOMING an Action girl C Whitey Action, to be precise C was wicked, according to rising star Jaime Winstone. Every morning, Id get up, put a red wig on, pull some cool hot pants on and become a superhero, says the actress daughter of screen tough guy Ray Winstone.

I love her style. Its really quirky, its really fun. Knee-high socks, mixed with colourful hot pants. Its all colours, colours, colours.

When I was younger I dreamed of being an action hero, so landing the part is all I could ask for from a role.

Its not every day that you wake up and become a superhero. I was happy to be sucked into a comic strip madness.

Winstone stars in Phoo Action, the first of six new dramas for BBC3 based on characters created by Jamie Hewlett, of Gorillaz and Tank Girl fame, for The Face comic strip, Get The Freebies. Set in 2012, the drama finds London in the grip of mutant criminals called the Freebies.

Only Terry Phoo, a Buddhist kung fu cop, and unruly teenage heroine Whitey Action can save the nation.

Eddie Shin from ER plays Terry Phoo with Rocky fighter Carl Weathers as Benjamin Benson, chief of police and Whiteys long-suffering father.

Winstone describes feisty Whitey as a rebel without a cause. Either that or shes an extremely bored young lady who is constantly finding herself in conflict with modern society, she says of her character who spends her time partying and rebelling against her fathers rules.

Whitey doesnt seem to take the same interest in the media celebrity culture that rules the general public in 2012, which kind of fuels her anger, says Winstone.

Not to mention her over-strict and over-sized dad who happens to be police chief of London, and also lacks a huge amount of confidence in his daughters ability to stay out of trouble.

She is constantly protesting or fighting for some right, but when faced with Terry Phoo, even Whitey cant begin to comprehend the responsibility that comes with such power.

She and Phoo turn out to be a superhero duo made in heaven C he comes with spiritual powers and martial arts, she is the kickass chosen one with powers that even Terry cant understand, not to mention the hot pants.

What more could you want? You have a Jackie Chan-obsessed spiritual fighter mixed with a confused and angry teenager anarchist running around in powerful hot pants. That to me is the perfect crime fighting duo, she adds.

Winstone, 22, reckons Whitey is the voice of disaffected youth in celebrity-obsessed 2012 and frustrated with the attention that celebrities and people in the limelight get.

They seem to get away with murder because they are a celebrity, she explains. Some would say thats happening in the world today to some extent. I think the way Phoo Action portrays celebrities is very honest. They are good voices, but their status has changed too much, theyve become too powerful.

The drama also offered the chance for her to work with Jamie Hewlett.

Shes a huge fan of his work, describing him as an excitable child.

Working on Phoo was really trippy actually. Youre going to work and theres a man running around with a basketball for a head and another thats a seven foot purple gorilla swinging punches at you.

Strangely enough, you kind of get used to it. Its crazy but you have to allow yourself to be silly and you cant think about it too much. Youve just got to accept Phoo and take it with a pinch of salt.

She and co-star Shin had to get to grips with kung fu moves for the drama. In one scene, she misjudged her swing on a stunt with a jeet kune do specialist and knocked him out, breaking her thumb in the process.

It was one of the big scenes at the end where theres loads of fighting as we try to save the world. I stepped in too close and floored him. For a seven-and-a-half stone girl thats pretty impressive. Forget about my dad, I must have my mums punch.

Shes as busy as her famous dad with two movies due for release C Donkey Punch, which premiered at Sundance last month, and Boogie Woogie, starring alongside Heather Graham and Gemma Atkinson as a promiscuous lesbian.

For the moment, shes concentrating on getting people to watch Phoo Action. Theres nothing like it on TV, she feels. Its a comic strip crazy drama and its really brave for the BBC to have made it.

Theyve really pushed the boat out with it, which should be praised.

If you want to watch a bit of mad TV where you shut off from the world and get sucked into this crazy comic strip adaptation, then this is the show for you.

ö Phoo Action, BBC3, Tuesday, 9pm

11:25am Thursday 7th February 2008

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