Iqra Aziz spent her childhood stealing her mother’s dupattas, prancing around the house dancing to Bollywood songs. She wanted to be an actress for as long as she could remember, and can’t imagine her life any other way. We interviewed the bubbly actress, and got to know so much – we fell in love with her humbleness, her realness, and her blaring truth about what life’s really like being an actress.

We asked her how it felt to have achieved so much at the age of 21 in such a short span of time, to which she said “it’s amazing” but is still trying to weave out her personal life from her public counterpart; “I’m still in that process of having my own life, my personal bits being in the public eye.” She did admit that it was still hard, trying to try and please everyone and also maintain a balance in her own life.

“Money can’t buy happiness. So if you think there’s a lot of money, then happiness is not always in that package.”

The actress opened up about the harsh realities behind being an actress and said it’s misconceived by many. Prior to our interview, she hadn’t eaten all day because of how busy her schedule is, and it was around 9 p.m. just FYI. Despite lack of privacy, she emphasized that it’s beautiful from the outside, but the inner workings of being in the public eye and being “in the industry” are all incredibly tough.

We talked a bit about her family, in particular, her mother and her sister, both with whom she’s very close with. She admitted to not feeling safe that her mother was a Careem driver with no security, and that it bothered her whenever her drop-offs were in more precarious locations around the city. She no longer is a Careem driver, because Iqra has the resources to keep her safe. She emphasized how security and safety are important in any job; her mother loved driving, but Iqra felt uncomfortable allowing her mother to let an app send her to unsafe locations to pick up men – with no precaution.

Her favorite dramas were three in particular; ‘Tabeer,’ ‘Choti Si Zindagi’ and ‘Suno Chanda.’ They all taught her skills that only improved her as an actor, from not just the characters she embodied but also her fellow co-stars and directors. She mentioned how ‘Suno Chanda’ was by far her most favorite because of the multitude of the ensemble cast; the set was an absolute riot in the most delightful way. Another interesting fact we found out was that the final wedding episode of ‘Suno Chanda’ was completely improvised between Farhan and Iqra; “all the badtameezi between us was completely improvised.” It was six in the morning when they had to shoot and they only had twenty minutes because Farhan had to grab a flight for Eid a few hours later.

On her currently aired drama that has resonated fantastically with audiences, ‘Ranjha Ranjha Kardi’ we asked Iqra what drew her to the project. “It was such a different character, and it was so out of the box – chooron ki larki hai aur chooron ke ghar mein paida hui hai.” Iqra realized how privileged many were while she really molded herself into the character. The more emotional scenes were harder to detach from, not just in this drama but in all the dramas; Iqra said it’s always hard to recover, but you learn a lot.

Many fans had also expressed concerns over how whether or not she would suit being the love interest of acclaimed actor Syed Jibran. Iqra was also hesitant when she was told she would be cast opposite Jibran – she asked director Kashif Nisar if it would work on-screen, especially considering the fact that she had played his sister in a previous drama. She was adamant that she would suit Imran Ashraf better before shooting for the drama. It was only after she saw the first episode when she realized how wonderful they looked on-screen, and praised Jibran for his fabulous acting; fans too fell in love with their characters Noori and Sahir.

We asked her what her definition of love was as a final question. Here’s what she had to say.

The full interview will be released on YouTube very soon!