Young stars get to see themselves in Matilda the Musical at Bognor Regis

Luca el Badraout, 10, Lili Beth Harding, 13, Ava Rose Johnson, 11, and Marlie Olivia Love, 13, play Matilda's classmates or Crunchem Hall Children (ensemble) in the new film starring Emma Thompson, Andrea Riseborough, Stephen Graham and Alisha Weir.

The youngsters are all members of South Coast Kidz, which represents a diverse mix of children from all over the UK (the majority based in West Sussex) and secures them jobs in TV, film, theatre and modelling.

Daisy Woolcott started the company five years ago, aged just 20, and has offices in Chichester.

"The brief for Matilda was sent to us directly from the casting directors in September 2020," she said.

"The casting directors saw thousands of submissions and chose who they wanted to send 'self tapes', they then created a shortlist of around 500 children.

"These children then went through about four rounds of dancing and singing auditions in London and then we received a call in late 2020 and were told the four kids had been offered a role in the movie.

"Sadly, Covid-19 the hit and everything was put on hold, but resumed in 2021 and they shot for eight months at various locations in the UK."

When the film came out Daisy knew just what she wanted.

"The screening was something we knew we wanted to do, we always aim to go above and beyond for our kids and we were so proud to have four kids in the movie," she said.

"We hired out the cinema and invited all of the local children who we represent and extended the invite to those further afield.

"We had Luca and Lili Beth (both ensemble cast) attend with their family and friends."

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There were 100 people at the screening, including the SCK team of Daisy, Olivia and Emma), SCK registered children and their families and Daisy's friends and family.

SCK youngsters are not new to the limelight. They have modelled for the likes of Dior, Zara, John Lewis, Burberry, Ted Baker and Stella McCartney, two siblings were in Jess Glynn’s Christmas video last year, one was a main character in the Netflix series The Midwitch Cuckoo, they have been in Sky series and much more.

The books are opening in Februay for new faces. Parents can apply via the website www.southcoastkidzltd.com