ANNA FRIEL - FRIEL BLASTS U.K. FOR SOAP OPERA OBSESSION

Actress ANNA FRIEL has slammed her native Britain for holding back her career - because the media still associates with her stint on U.K. soap opera BROOKSIDE. Friel, who has found fame Stateside on hit U.S. series Pushing Daisies, finished her two-year run on Brookside in 1995 - but states the British press still bombard her with questions about the now obsolete series. The 31-year-old played the role of lesbian Beth Jordache in the show, who killed her abusive father and buried his body in the garden. She explains, "It was getting to be a joke here (in the U.K.). Even when I was 80 (sic), my epitaph would be, 'Brookside. Used to be in a TV soap.' How long ago is it now? Thirteen years. But Friel insists she doesn't regret her time on the series: "I'm not embarrassed about any aspect of my life or past. It's just really boring - people talking about the same things. I just think it's time to let it go. Otherwise, the last 13 years have been for nothing. "I do feel it's a bit of a shame, though, that it had to happen in America rather than here. I wouldn't say I've reinvented myself but, in America, they just take me in a different way."