The last time she was in the public eye, Georgie Henley was wowing audiences as Lucy in the international Christmas blockbuster The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Tonight she returns to the spotlight but on a somewhat more modest stage at the King’s Hall, in Ilkey, where the 10-year-old will to take on the role of Jill in the Upstagers Theatre Group’s performance of Babes in the Wood.
And despite her new found fame, Georgie had to audition for her part like everyone else.
“Everyone’s just the same with me and I like that,” she said. “I just wanted to come back to a normal life. I think they thought it would change me but it hasn’t at all. I think if I lived in a big city where there were lots of agents and child actors I would feel a bit more famous but I just turned up every day and acted and that’s what I am doing here.”
The Moorland School pupil has worked with famous actors on the set of a big budget film – but the opening night of a rather smaller scale pantomime still has her on edge.
“This is the first year I have actually had a speaking part. I think I will be a bit nervous because I am on on the opening night and of course there’s always the possibility of everything going wrong.”
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has taken more than £300m at the box office globally and now the next book in the series by CS Lewis, Prince Caspian, is set to be made.
Georgie said: “I’ve been very surprised. It’s a very popular children’s book but I still didn’t expect all this to happen.
“They have announced now they might be doing Prince Caspian but, at the moment, its all about school work. I’m entering secondary school this year so I’m buckling down.”
