Kerri McLean says it is "a shame" 'Poldark' didn't introduce a black character sooner.
Kerri McLean as Kitty
The actress has joined the cast as Catherine 'Kitty' Despard - the former slave wife of Colonel Ned (Vincent Regan) - in the fifth and final season of the BBC period drama, and while she is "grateful" to be part of the show, she thinks it could have happened in an earlier series.
She told the Radio Times magazine: "It's a shame it's taken until series five because 'Poldark' isn't just about the middle and upper classes, it's about the lower classes in a coastal town where they would have had black people.
"But I'm very grateful that Kitty's there now."
'Bodyguard' star Kerri reflected on the way period dramas are "changing", and she is glad there are characters being written to represent "unheard voices".
She explained: "There just aren't many period dramas that have a character like Kitty. But it is changing, and certainly from when I first started my career, it's getting better.
"There are more roles being written and these unheard voices are finding a way through. And that's great."
She even suggested a Kitty spin-off could be a possibility for the future, to explore more about the character and her story.
Kerri said: "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a black performer in a role that's written for a white person, but for me, it's about writing black roles, finding the real voices of a period, those exciting stories and those exciting characters.
"That's why Catherine is so brilliant - she feels like an unheard voice. I've said to [screenwriter] Debbie [Horsfield] that she has more to say - the Kitty spin-off."