A young girl from Bristol plays one of the leading roles in a Spanish thriller that is currently trending worldwide on Netflix. The Chalk Line (Jaula), directed by Ignacio Tatay, follows the story of a couple who find a traumatised child called Clara, who can’t speak but draws chalk circles around herself.
The role of Clara is played by Eva Tennear, a young girl from Bristol who is now 10 but auditioned for the part when she was just seven. The Chalk Line has been one of the films trending on Netflix in recent days.
The Pauline Quirke Academy, where Eva has been attending every Saturday since she was five, were contacted by an acting agency who were looking for children to audition for the role. She then travelled to Madrid with her mother, Nikki Tennear, for eight weeks of filming alongside her co-stars Elena Anaya and Pablo Molinero.
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Nikki Tennear said she is “really proud” of her daughter who has been “extremely lucky” to get such a big part in her first film. Although it was hard being apart from her other children while they were filming in Spain, the two of them were able to enjoy some mother-and-daughter time together.
Nikki told Bristol Live how she sought out a drama school in Bradley Stoke for her daughter who was always keen to perform at home from a young age. Nikki said: "When she was five, she was always really high energy, wanting to do a dance show and perform for us at home.
“Because she was so enthusiastic about performing we thought we’d see if there was anything like that she could do and the staff in Bradley Stoke are amazing, they’re so professional and we love it there. It’s like a second family for Eva.
“It’s great for their confidence, even when she does the school shows she knows where to look and how to look at the audience. She’s really good at following instructions, I think that’s a big part of why she got the role.
“She was actually the first child that the director met and she was the one he wanted as soon as he met her. Obviously he met lots of other children, but he just kept coming back to Eva because she was exactly what he wanted for the part.”
Although Eva - who is now 10 - doesn’t understand the full content of the film, she really enjoyed the experience and hopes that she can be in a Disney film for her next role. Eva said: “I'm so happy, it’s been my dream since forever basically.
“All the cast and crew were really kind and it was nice being just me and mummy. I’m always very confident and up for a show.
“I’d like to do something on Disney because I love Disney films. I would also like it to be something more child appropriate and happy because the character I played in the film was the complete opposite of me.
“So I’d like to be in a film that showed a bit more of me; happy and likes to talk. It was fun doing it but maybe I can’t show all of my friends, just my parents’ friends.”
Chatty Eva was often being told on set to ‘speak more slowly’ by the Spanish actors who found it difficult to understand her. Although there were language barriers, the director was fluent in English, which was helpful for young Eva, who doesn’t speak Spanish.
Unlike Eva, her character Clara, who is traumatised for unknown reasons, barely says a word. Eva worked with a translator who helped her with the lines she has in the film, where she speaks some Spanish and German.
Eva enjoyed working alongside Elena Anaya who plays the role of Paula who is married to Simon (played by Pablo Molinero). The couple find Clara, walking alone and try to help her and discover her origins.
The film is currently available on Netflix, in time for Halloween. It can be viewed in the UK in the original Spanish version with the option of English subtitles, but there is also a dubbed English version.
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