Buckingham Bingo Bradford and the Arbor movie starlet

The Arbor will be shown in cinemas next year

Bingo club employee has brush with silver screen

By day she works at a well-known bingo club, by night she is a star of the silver screen.

Natalie Gavin, a 22-year-old employee at Buckingham Bingo Bradford, plays the lead in a forthcoming Clio Bernard movie set in the local area, reports the Yorkshire Post.

Filming has just finished on The Arbor, an adaptation of Andrea Dunbar's (pictured) autobiographical play of the same name written when she was just 15 years old.

The Arbor, scheduled for a cinematic release in 2010, is a docudrama combining contemporary interviews about the late playwright with newly shot footage of actors bringing her words to life.

East is East star Jimi Mistry has been cast as her macho boyfriend, but it is Natalie who has the daunting task of playing the part of the writer herself.

Like the original theatre production, the movie is set on the Buttersworth estate in Bradford and filming was watched by locals including Andrea's elder sister Pamela and Andrea's son Andrew.

Natalie gets a new family

Natalie said: "It's strange playing Andrea when her family's here looking at me - it's spooky. What do you say? You've got to put yourselves in their position."

Nevertheless, the young actress has worked hard to get into the mindset of her character.

She explained: "Andrea was quite an emotional person. She put walls up. But she was sharp as a knife; she'd give it to you and she'd give you it good."

Critical response so far has been positive - the Yorkshire Post described her as a "revelation" and praised her for bringing "plausibility and dynamism" to the role.

And Buckingham Bingo would like to take this opportunity to send our warmest congratulations to Natalie - she truly is a star in the making.

Buckingham Bingo Bradford and the Arbor movie starlet

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