In Aftersun, 12-year-old Frankie Corio from Livingston, West Lothian, co-stars with Bafta-winning actor Paul Mescal as Sophie.
Before landing the role of a young girl on a dream vacation with her father, the star of a new big-screen movie had never performed on stage or screen.
She was cast after her mother Leona submitted a photo of her to a casting agency that was looking for tomboyish girls between the ages of 10 and 12.
Frankie explains: “I wasn’t attempting to break into the acting business.
“My mother simply said, “I’ve put you up for a casting audition thing,” when she returned home, and I thought it was cool.
“I knew what it was, but I wasn’t sure I was going to understand it.”
The character Sophie is the daughter of Mescal’s character Calum, a young man who struggles with mental illness in the movie.
Celia Rowlson-portrayal Hall’s of Sophie as an adult recalls a trip she took with her father to a Turkish resort 20 years earlier.
The scenes in which Frankie played a young Sophie were filmed on location in Turkey over the summer of 2016.
Wow, she’s acting extremely well.
For the entire two months of filming, her mother, father, sister, Mariella, 13, and brother, Lorenzo, 6, stayed with her.
Leona, a primary school teacher, said she was so proud of her daughter.
The 40-year-old said to BBC Scotland: “I could come and go on set because Francesca always had a chaperone, and they were pretty laid back.
My husband and I alternated going to the set, but we also wanted to give her some room to be herself and get to know Paul.
We didn’t want to come out as demanding parents, so we gave kids some independence.
When Leona learned that her daughter had been selected for the role, she claimed to be in “disbelief.”
“Everyone remarked on how naturally she acts. She is a highly emotive person in real life, so when I saw her acting with such calmness and restraint, I thought, “Wow, she’s acting.”
Frankie enjoyed making the movie, except for the singing.
In one part, she was required to perform “Losing My Religion” by REM in front of a large audience.
“I detested it; I detested every second. I detested singing it and singing in public. There were numerous people present.
“I pretended to be my character Sophie to get through it. I simply pretended to be someone else in all of my scenes.
I learned to play pool from Paul.
Before production began, Frankie spent two weeks getting to know Mescal, who portrayed Connell in Normal People.
We played pool, ate ice cream, and went swimming in the sea, she remarked.
“Aside from learning how to play billiards for a few sequences, I had no instruction. I learned to play pool from Paul,” Frankie said.
Frankie outlined the distinctions, even though she believes she and her movie role are fairly similar.
She remarked: “I’m not as embarrassed as her like doing karaoke and diving in the pool with my shoes on – kind of a strange choice.
However, there were instances when I didn’t perceive it as acting; I simply thought the actors were hanging out and reciting their lines.
She watched her favorite actress, Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things, to get advice on how to get through.
“Great movie”
She has had a lot of support from her Scottish friends, who were “very pleased” when she took them to a movie.
And when she learned that her professors were organizing a night out to watch it at the movies, she felt “extremely proud.”
Charlotte Wells is the director of the movie, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this year and opens in UK theaters on Friday.
“I believe it’s an excellent film,” Frankie stated. I’m also quite happy to be a Scottish actress, and I hope this will encourage the development of more Scottish performers.
I intend to continue acting when I’m older. It’s enjoyable to play a role that you are not.
Also Read: M. Shadows Married His Wife After A 6th-Grade Romance
