Six-year-old Ellie Copping hails from the Lutterworth area and landed a key role in a film called Starfish, which tells the tale of a man from Rutland who endured an illness that changed his life. After being diagnosed with septicaemia, Tom Ray had his legs and arms amputated. Ellie is playing the part of his daughter in the film, having secured her role after answering a Facebook casting call.
Speaking to the Lutterworth Mail, her mum Louisa stated that:
“We were over the moon when we heard that she had got the part. Ellie was really excited. We didn’t want to pin too many hopes on it because there were lots of children auditioning.”
Filming for the movie was mainly carried out in the Rutland area and took place during the last two months of 2015. The youngster was accompanied by either her parents or another relative at all times and received tuition to help her manage during the time she missed at school.
Starfish will have its cinema release at the end of this month and may be promoted locally by cinemas using poster printing.