Silent Witness star Liz Carr heading to Hollywood to work with Mark Wahlberg

Speaking on the BBC Ouch podcast, of which Carr is a former host, she said, “It’s a great role. I’m ecstatic. I thought, ‘I bet they’re just going to audition wheelchair-users and then they’re going to give the role to Tom Cruise.’”

Infinite is helmed by Training Day and The Equaliser director Antoine Fuqua and will be released this summer, with Carr playing an as yet secret role.

After leaving Silent Witness, Carr described her last run as her “best series ever” and commented that when she first joined the show the BBC seemed “terrified” about what to do with a disabled actor.

But she hailed the progress that has been made over her eight year stint playing Clarissa, and says she is proud of the improved representation for disabled people on the small screen.

She said, “I think over the eight years I’ve kind of policed the show quite a lot and worked to make sure it was better and refused to say certain lines that I thought were problematic.

“I was asked recently if I was proud of what we achieved in terms of representation in Silent Witness – oh, my goodness, of course I am.”

Meanwhile Carr also said that she hoped her success could serve as encouragement for other disabled actors to be given “a break” in the world of TV and film.

“Unless you can show how good you are, people aren’t going to see what amazing talent is out there.”