interview: Amy Harvey

Amy Harvey played Leanne in Julian Richards’ film Summer Scars. I interviewed Amy on set in South Wales in August 2006.

What can you tell me about Leanne?"Leanne is a ballsy tomboy who hangs around with all the lads. Mugsy’s her cousin who introduced her to the lads and she has a big crush on another one of the lead roles which is Bingo and they end up getting together. She’s quite reserved but she’ll stick up for anyone who gets bullied. She’s always sticking up for Mugsy and Jonesy when they’re getting picked on. She’s just a general, all-round tomboy, I think."

How old are you and how old is Leanne?"I’m fourteen and the character is fourteen. It’s the first time I’ve actually played my age.”

How did you get the role?"I went for an audition with my agency, with Ryan Conway. I didn’t hear anything for a while but then I went for a call-back with Kevin and the director Julian. We did a bit of improvisation and a couple of scenes from the film. Then I didn’t hear anything for ages, like six weeks, then they gave me a call and told me I’d got the part so I was very pleased."

What sort of stuff have you done before?"I haven’t done a hell of a lot of acting but I’ve done adverts for the NSPCC, I’ve done an episode of Casualty, I’ve done some work with BBC Jam and a bit of Welsh theatre work."

Is acting something that you want to pursue?"Definitely. I love acting."

How are you finding being the only girl in the cast?"Brilliant. I think it’s wicked! It gives you time to get into the tomboy role. First of all, all the boys treat you like you’re china or glass but now they’ve all got to know me and know that I am a bit of a tomboy anyway so I just fit right in with everyone."

When I got here this morning, you were shooting the scene where you steal the moped."We went for a lesson on the moped, which I wasn’t the best in because I crashed into a bush. But I got used to it and Kevin the stunt co-ordinator, he helped me with a lot of it. I had Ryan, who plays Mugsy, on the back and it was brilliant. We had the quad bike in front of us with the camera and I had to try and say a line whilst riding the moped. So it was good, it was brilliant."

You seemed to be well padded up."Yes, they were 100 per cent safe. And Kevin was running at 25 kilometres per hour in front of the moped just to make sure that if I fell off he was going to catch me. It’s been a brilliant experience."

interview originally posted 19th November 2007