NI schoolgirl 'amazed' after starring role in hit movie Summerland
Aoibhine McFlynn, from Ballyronan, plays Cassie a World War II evacuee from Belfast in the hit film which has an all-star line up including Gemma Arterton, Sir Tom Courtenay and Dixie Egerickx.
"I don't think anyone anticipated just how big this movie was going to be," said Edele - Aoibhine's mum who accompanied her when it was being shot in Sussex in October 2018.
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Hide Ad"It's getting massive reviews, it's huge but we didn't know that at the time."
Edele, a beautician, said 11-year-old Aoibhine had been signed up with Alison Campbell's Modelling Agency and had been doing "bits and pieces" of work when this opportunity came along.
"Aoibhine was asked to read a couple of lines and we videoed her and she got it," said Edele.
"Apart from modelling work for Alison, she has never done anything like this and when she came back from the movie she got a role in the Phoenix Natual Gas advert on UTV."
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Hide AdAoibhine was just nine at the time of filming but loved the experience so much that her parents are now looking around for a suitable drama school.
Summerland is a sentimental war drama set in a small Kent seaside town and follows the awakening of reculsive writer Alice Lamb (Gemma Arterton) when a young evacuee called Frank (Lucas Bond) arrives at her door.
Edele said Aoibhine has a small speaking role with Tom Courtenay, who plays Mr Sullivan, in a classroom scene.
"It was an unbelievable experience...amazing," she continued. "Shooting had been going on for six or seven weeks before we landed. We did not know it was going to be a big movie until we saw the actors."
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Hide AdThey stayed in a five-star hotel and were chauffeured each morning to the set. "I got to see it all being filmed by director Jessica Swale. They were long days with different angled shots until she got it right, and she got it right."
Edele described Aoibhine as "a modest wee girl" who has a brother and four sisters.
A former pupil of St Patrick's Primary School, Loup, she is due to start St Pius X College in Magherafelt in the near future.
"We have not got physically as a family to see the film," admitted Edele. "It's only available at selected cinemas but others have been telling us about seeing her on the big screen."
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