CATWALK queen Agyness Deyn’s ambitions of breaking into Hollywood are set for take-off on a completely different kind of runway – and film critics say they are already impressed.

Worlds away from the elfin rock chick look, beloved of fashion houses from Armani to Gaultier, the model’s role as stripper Flo, in a hard-hitting remake of a Danish film, Pusher, is proving to be an eye-opener.

Critics at press screenings said they were bowled over by her performance in the gritty tale of drugs and depravity.

One critic for the Hollywood Reporter said: “Also very fine is top model Agyness Deyn.

“She has a graceful fragility that offers a new take on the good bad girl who wants out, though one wonders why someone with Flo’s looks doesn’t try modeling.

“When she’s accosted at a party as a prostitute, her wounded feelings are genuinely moving and prepare for the film’s final cruel twist.”

The character is the 29-year-old’s first big role. And the former chip shop worker from Edenfield, now living in Los Angeles, is determined to make a go of the well-worn model-to-movies path.

Before now Agyness’ only roles have been a cameo in Clash of the Titans, as Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and a leftfield play, The Leisure Society, which won favourable notices at London’s Trafalgar Studios.

In an interview with Vogue magazine Agyness said: “I actually shadowed an erotic dancer. I watched her at work, she was so generous with her time and it helped me so much.

“It’s great to be able to use facts and reality and then fuse them with what you know about the character, so it’s not built entirely on imagination.”

Richard Coyle stars in Pusher as Frank, a drug dealer whose world disintegrates via a tangle with the Turkish mafia.

The movie is scheduled for an August UK release.