AN eight-year-old girl from Warrington is set to feature in a new BBC true life hate crime drama “Murdered for Being Different.”
Amelia Clarke aged 8 from Thelwall, plays the part of Sam Gorman who is the main witness little sister in the factual drama on the 10th aniversary of death of 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster who was kicked to death in a park by a gang of kids she didn’t know.
The Grappenhall Heys primary School youngster, who attends Little Stars Stage School in Warrington and is with Scream Agency in Manchester and London was cast and filmed earlier this year.
She has appeared in some commercials already but this is her first major role.
The drama is due to air tomorrow (Sunday) initially on BBC3 and then on BBC1 within the next two weeks.
Murdered for being Different is from the Bafta and RTS award-winning team behind BBC Three’s Murdered By My Boyfriend, Don’t Take My Baby and Murdered By My Father return with a new film about a brutal hate crime that shocked the country in 2007.
In a small town in Lancashire, 20 year-old Sophie (Abigail Lawrie) was kicked to death in a park by a gang of kids she didn’t know. Her boyfriend Robert Maltby (Nico Mirallegro) was severely beaten into a coma. The two of them were randomly attacked because they were dressed as Goths.
Made in close collaboration with Rob, his family, Sophie’s family and the police investigating team, this factual drama is the true story of a young relationship and of the violence and chaos that destroyed their lives, for simply being different.
In the aftermath of the attack, Murdered For Being Different also follows the story of one teenage witness, Michael Gorman, who struggles with the need to speak out against the attackers and stand up for what is right.
Made on the 10th anniversary of Sophie’s death, this film is both a love story and a forensic examination of the causes and consequences of a brutal attack. It will be the centrepiece programme in a BBC Three season exploring identity.
Murdered For Being Different stars Abigail Lawrie (Casual Vacancy), Nico Mirallegro (Common, Mad Fat Diary, Hollyoaks), Chanel Cresswell (This is England) , Sally Lindsay (Coronation St, Mount Pleasant), Reiss Jarvis, and Sophie McShera (Downtown Abbey, Cinderella).
Amelia says she is “so happy” that she got the part of Sam and was really excited to meet all the cast and the crew from the BBC.
“They were all really lovely and I had the best time filming,” she added.
Amelia Clarke
