Are you a fan of Sex Education? Then you may want to keep your eyes peeled for Wimbledon girl Olivia Beazley who made her TV debut in the second season of the Netflix show which came out last week.
The 13-year-old - who goes by Olivia Beaumont in acting circles - plays the role of Young Maeve and was blown away when offered the part.
“When I read for a character, I always like to think of the person as me and love exploring the world through their eyes, being in their shoes,” she said.
“I am hugely grateful to Emma Mackay for creating the role, she is an amazing actor.
"I had to then find Young Maeve and she pulled on my heart strings. She’s such a strong person despite everything she went through.”
Her love of acting showed at an early age when she attended The Study School in Wimbledon where she was encouraged by the head of drama, Clare Kirkby, to perform, take Lamda lessons and roles in the year end plays
She began dancing in year 1 at the Elite Dancers’ Academy under Yasmin Alamari and fell in love with ballet and jazz.
Olivia Beazley aka Olivia Beaumont. Picture: Annie Trapnell
Yasmin encouraged her talent and expressiveness and says that Olivia had to work hard, but there was just something about her that meant “you couldn’t take your eyes off her.”
Olivia continued acting at Notre Dame School in Cobham in their amazing theatre and began to develop her singing voice and musicality, under Julie Shaw who was inspirational to her.
She auditioned for Arts Ed - a performing arts school in Chiswick - and was offered a place on both the dance and acting courses. She chose the dancers’ course with more than 14 hours training a week, in addition to her singing, acting and normal classes. She also attends the National Youth Theatre at weekends.
Her father, Charles Beazley, said he was "super proud" of her being part of the ground-breaking series.
"Growing up she was totally focussed on acting, dancing and singing and first said she wanted to be an actor aged about 7," he added.
"At the Study in Wimbledon, her dance and drama teachers said she had something special.
"We really began to pay more attention when her drama teachers at the Study and subsequently at Notre Dame School said that every character she took on, had a depth to the performance that was unusual for her age.
"She seemed able to embody the character, dance or sing with emotional maturity."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here