한국   대만   중국   일본 
Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted to be a movie star
Search Icon

Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted to be a movie star

Lucy Boynton
Lucy Boynton, aged 12, plays the young Beatrix Potter in the film Miss Potter

Lucy Boynton's original ambition was to work at Battersea Dogs Home. Reality being what it is, however, the schoolgirl from south London has had to adjust her sights ? and settle for the job of mere movie star.

When Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor walked up the red carpet at the Odeon Leicester Square for the premiere of their new film this week, Lucy, aged 12, was with them.

Lucy Boynton
Lucy Boynton, aged 12, plays theyoung Beatrix Potter in the film Miss Potter

The daughter of Graham Boynton, The Daily Telegraph travel editor, Lucy is pupil at the ￡12,000 a year James Allen's Girls' School, Dulwich ? Jags to those who attend it. She plays the young Beatrix Potter in the film Miss Potter, chronicling the life of the woman who gave the world Peter Rabbit.

The film is her first ? her previous acting career being confined to angels and sheep in Nativity plays, and a part in a school production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

So, what is it like hitting the jackpot at your first attempt?

"The premiere was wonderful, magical," said Lucy. "But when I got out of the car and the camera flashes started it was a bit scary."

In the film, directed by Chris Noonan, best known for the film Babe, Zellweger plays the adult Potter as she struggles against her starched Victorian upbringing. McGregor plays Norman Warne, her publisher, the shy man she wanted to marry.

Lucy, who plays Potter at the ages of 10 and 13, was required to wear a corset during filming in the Lake District and on the Isle of Man. "It was part of what they wore in those days," said Lucy. "It was okay at first but then it started digging in."

Her mother Adriaane said the awarding of the role followed uncannily on the heels of a New Year's Day conversation.

"We were talking on Jan 1st about the coming year and Lucy said she had made up her mind to be an actress. A few weeks later she was selected for an audition and got the part."

The film is another expedition into English life for Zellweger, who played the disaster-prone diarist Bridget Jones. During filming she acquired two great loves: the Lake District and beans on toast.