She plays the lead role in a spoof documentary called That's For Me which will be premiered at the UK Jewish Film Festival in London next month.

The 30-year-old created the character of Zara Zimmerman, a deluded wannabee star whose family will do anything to ger her to the top.

A promotion for the film said: "This is a mockumentary in the style of This Is Spinal Tap with a cringe factor that would make The Office's David Brent blush.

"That's For Me is a biting satire on fame that will make you laugh and hide in your seats with its outrageous characters and ptiliess portrayal of family values gone wrong."

Debra, a former Allerton High School pupil, said she thought up Zara at a time when she was feeling frustrated in her career.

"I noticed how many talentless individuals were rising to stardom without really deserving fame," she said. "So I set out to create Zara, a delusional actress devoid of any talent, from a pushy family."

She met film director Claudia Solti whom she knew at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and they liked the idea of doing the spoof together.

"Knowing each other at drama school meant we could draw on our own experiences as hopeful actors," said Debra.

"This covered all the pitfalls – the whole gamut of failed auditions, competitive actors and useless agents who don't really care if you work or not."

That's For Me, which also features Harriet Thorpe (from The Brittas Empire) and Little Britain actor Steve Furst, will be shown at the Everyman, Hampstead, on November 9 and at the Odeon Swiss Cottage on November 15.

Sultry-voiced Debra is now working an a comedy drama about another dysfunctional family – this time from Leeds.

She wanted to be a performer from the age of five and left Leeds to read English at Oxford University. She did as many drama productions as she could before moving to London at the age of 21 to do a course at LAMDA.

In her first acting role, for the now defunct TV station Live TV, she played a murder victim in a crime reconstruction documentary and had to hang from a tree for two hours!

Her first feature film was the 2004 romantic comedy Suzie Gold, in which she played Joanna, an obsessive anorexic.

But Debra might be best remembered as the crazy woman in a TV cornflakes commercial.