Newbury 11-year-old makes professional acting debut in award-winning film
A YOUNG actor from Newbury has recently made her professional acting debut in a lead role, in a short film which has already won a prestigious award at its screening premier at London’s Roundhouse.
Eleven-year-old Sophie Ainsworth, who attends Trinity School and trains with Razzamataz Theatre School, won the part of Maddie in Our Summer after a nationwide casting call.
She spent two days filming on location in South London in October, and says that the experience has bolstered her acting ambitions.
“The weekend we spent filming Our Summer was amazing,” she says. “The director Jennie was brilliant; she gave me and Jenny, the actor playing my big sister, plenty of time to develop our relationship, and there was lots of fun improvisation.
“The crew made sure that I was comfortable and happy when we were filming the more serious scenes, and it was great to have the opportunity to explore Maddie’s changing emotions.”
Our Summer follows two sisters, teenager Charlie – Jenny Walser, recently seen in Call The Midwife – and eight-year-old Maddie, who rely on each other to get through the endless days spent in their bedroom during lockdown, listlessly entertaining themselves.
What begins as a lighthearted snapshot into the girls’ lives world soon changes to reflect the anxiety caused by a dangerous family member returning home. Their bedroom transforms from being full of life and fun into a cold and empty space as Charlie is forced to leave her sister to face the person outside the door.
Our Summer is the work of filmmaker Jennie Foot, who grew up in Maidenhead and whose parents now live in West Berkshire.
She was able to make the film after winning one of three bursaries awarded annually by the Roundhouse Film Fund to enable emerging filmmakers to tell socially relevant stories by providing funding, technical equipment, production support and mentorship.
The film was screened with those made by other bursary winners from 2020 and 2021 at the Roundhouse last month, during which Jennie was announced as the first winner of the Wiggin Emerging Filmmaker Award, which will support her future projects.
“I was so excited to attend the screening at the Roundhouse,” says Sophie. “It was very strange to see myself on the big screen – I was watching ‘me’ and ‘not-me’ at the same time!
“We didn’t know about the Emerging Filmmaker Award until that night; when it was announced that Jennie had won, I cheered so loudly! My mum asked the assistant director if it meant we could now say that I’d appeared in an ‘award-winning film’, and he said ‘yes’!”
Sophie, who is signed to BBM Young Performers agency, is now working hard to land more professional roles, and has her sights firmly set on acting as a full-time career.
“It can be hard work sometimes,” she says. “Last week I had two evenings to learn a script for a self-tape to submit to a casting director, which we then had to film in the kitchen while my dad was waiting to put the kettle on to make a cup of tea.”
In the meantime, Sophie is looking forward to appearing in Matilda Junior at The Corn Exchange with Rare Productions in January, and in a school production of Grease later in the spring.
“I have so many brilliant, talented friends who I have met through my performing activities, particularly at Razzamataz,” she says. “Hopefully we can all go on to do amazing things and make our teachers proud, but in the meantime we are just enjoying doing what we love.”
Our Summer can be watched on YouTube at https://youtu.be/BCoOZOE-U0M
TRISH LEE
