A Nottingham actress has shared her delight at being chosen for the lead role in a new film set to premiere on Amazon Prime. Amanda Cropper is currently the landlady of the award-winning pub, the Ned Ludd pub, in Friar Lane.
Amanda was offered the role after accompanying her friend to an audition at the Lace Market Theatre. She was asked to read as not many people attended the audition and was shocked when she was offered the part. She says the career change at 45 was daunting but she has been determined to 'just go for it.'
"My friend used to do some acting in programs when she was a child so she wanted to get back into it. I went with her to the Lace Market Theatre for auditions. There weren't that many people there so they asked me to read as well. I was terrified which worked out well as the part I read for was of an older, terrified woman, " she said.
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From there, Amanda did some training with actors' workshops and began to audition for more. She has since picked up a good variety of roles from films to TV commercials. She got the lead role in The Haunted Studio, by Black Coppice Films, after another actress dropped out.
"It's very different from pub life although I was only gone for a week. I had a tiny part in the film then the lead actress dropped out so they called me two days before they started shooting to ask if I could learn 23 scenes."
She added: "I absolutely loved it but there was masking tape everywhere as I had to put my lines on masking tape where the camera couldn't see it because I couldn't remember them all. You have a voice recording which you wake up then fall asleep listening to it and it goes in."
Amanda was on holiday when she got the call about the lead role which meant she had to turn around and come home to start filming. She says her husband is incredibly supportive.
"I was about to book another week of the holiday as I was very happy sitting on the beach. It was such a good feeling to be offered the role especially as I'm 45 and it's not something I expected to be doing. I only thought I would do the Lace Market thing but my husband keeps telling me to go for it."
When it comes to family feedback, Amanda says that her family is very supportive but they can't wait to see the finished film. The film is due out next year as it's taken a while to film, including some locations in the US. It's taken six months so far between shooting and editing.
In the film, she plays Neela, a woman who is very controlling towards her husband. Amanda had her first experience of holding a gun to someone's head in the film.
"I play a controlling woman who controls her husband, sort of like a Sybil and Basil dynamic from Fawlty Towers. I quite enjoyed it as I got to click my fingers quite a bit and it was really good fun. It was filmed at 369 studios in Leicester," she explained.
"I played a cult leader in another film, Demons at Dawn. I had to hold a gun to someone's head so I was a bit nervous. You have all the lines in your head but then you have to have a gun in your hands, too. To actually hold it against someone is very daunting."
The first trailer is about to drop for Haunted Studio and Amanda says there is a showing planned in London. She will be travelling down to attend but isn't sure she will be able to watch without her hands in front of her eyes as she has never seen a horror film before.
"It's going to be really interesting watching this because even though I saw it being filmed, I don't know if I'll be able to watch it without my hands in front of my eyes. They make it look so different to how it actually was."
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