A 16-year-old from Mayobridge, County Down, has been cast as one of four leads in a new Disney film, successfully beating 300,000 other hopefuls in a global search.

Sophie Lennon will play Brooklyn in The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen, a revival of the early-2000s musical franchise. Filming is set to take place in Cape Town, South Africa, over the next four months.

The young performer advanced through a competitive audition process, submitting a self-tape that showcased her singing, dancing, and acting. About a week later, she received a callback and eventually won the part just days before sitting her GCSE examinations. A non-disclosure agreement prevented her from telling friends at the time.

Lennon is no stranger to the stage. She has appeared on television talent competitions including Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent, performed on the West End, and represented Ireland at the 2022 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

The role was originally considered with a Northern Irish accent but was later rewritten as Irish-American. Lennon has been working with a dialect coach to perfect the accent, a task she described as straightforward after years of watching American television and imitating the speech.

In Cape Town, her schedule starts at 7 am and runs for 12 hours. Prep work includes choreography sessions, studio recordings, script readings, costume fittings, and guitar lessons.

The new film follows four teenagers who travel to Africa to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary and eventually form a musical group. Alongside Lennon, the cast includes Leah Sava Jeffries, Carmen Sanchez, and Kaileen Chang.

Lennon said she connected with her character, who comes from a musical family and is determined to succeed. She has also received record deal offers from four major labels, though those negotiations are paused during filming.