Scrapper: Leventhorpe School student Lola Campbell on her starring role with Harris Dickinson in UK comedy-drama earning rave reviews

For 13-year-old Leventhorpe schoolgirl Lola Campbell, playing the lead role in a new UK movie was “just a big mess about with everybody”.

The fact that her performance and the film Scrapper have received rave reviews – and won an award at the renowned Sundance Film Festival in the USA – and that her co-star is up-and-coming young British actor Harris Dickinson (Where the Crawdads Sing, Triangle of Sadness, The King's Man and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) seem to have passed the usually shy teenager by.

The comedy-drama tells the story of Georgie (Lola), who lives by herself in an east London council house after her single mum dies. She manages to secretly survive on her own, making money by stealing bikes and selling them.

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She fends off her school and social services by pretending an uncle named Winston Churchill is with her. Things take a turn when her previously errant dad Jason (Dickinson) shows up for the first time and demands to share the house with Georgie.

The Guardian calls the movie – Londoner Charlotte Regan’s directorial debut – a “fizzing, vital exploration of the father-daughter bond”, awarding it four stars and describing Lola’s performance as impressive.

But Lola’s mum Lisa admits her daughter – who was 12 during filming – wouldn’t be the obvious choice for such a demanding debut.

Never having appeared in a play or show, she student demonstrated her star quality in videos of skits which she started producing during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

And when they applied for the part after a friend sent the link for an advert, an audition in London’s Covent Garden didn’t go too well.

“She wouldn’t answer any of their questions, she kind of went into mute mode,” said Lisa. So mum and daughter decided there would be no follow-up calls and put it down to experience.

But, undeterred, director Regan and her producer Theo Barrowclough regularly visited the family home in Sheering because they felt Lola was perfect for the part. “They invested a lot of their time – they just kept coming and coming,” said Lisa.

Before long, Lola was filming in Chigwell during the summer holidays of 2021, an experience she loved. Despite being in every scene but one, she took it in her stride and was even allowed to improvise, a decision which Lola said helped.

“It felt a lot more natural,” Lola told the Indie. “It was just a big mess about with everybody.” The relaxed atmosphere on set even saw Lola often carrying her baby sister Hartlie around with her.

Far from trumpeting her achievement, Lola has kept her starring role quiet, along with the chance to attend the premiere at the Sundance Festival – the largest independent film festival in the United States, where it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.

Few at her secondary school in Sawbridgeworth are aware. “I don’t think many of them really know,” she said.

One thing mum and daughter are clear about is that Lola is not about to upstage anyone come rehearsal time for school plays. “I don’t really think stage is for her,” said Lisa. “She’s not really theatrical, she finds that kind of thing cringey.”

Released on August 25, the film is available to see at selected cinemas, but as it is made by BBC Film and BFI it will likely be on our TV screens at some time in the future.