Three boys have won over director Stephen Daldry and are destined to step into Jamie Bell's pumps for the first big musical of 2005. We give you the lowdown on the young stars...
James Lomas, 14 Sheffield
Ecclesfield School, Yorkshire
Parents: mother Cathy runs a mobile hairdressing business; father Pete is a steelworker.
Got into acting/dancing because: "When I was 11 a neighbour told my mum about our local operatic society needing boys for the musical Oliver! so I joined and loved it - it was where I met my best mate Oliver. I started comprehensive school where I joined the drama club and did school plays. I then joined Sheffield Youth Theatre as they were doing Shakespeare's Pericles at the Crucible - which I found challenging."
How did he get the audition?: "My dance teacher, Mrs Berry, took some of us to do some backing dancing for an
Argos advert; it was fantastic working with a film crew. Mrs Berry saw the advert for the Billy Elliot auditions and phoned my mum to tell her. I had never been to an audition before."
The original film? "I'd seen it before the rehearsals and thought it was great. I also saw a documentary on the making of the film."
