Henley girl to appear in Supergirl as 'body double'

A GIRL from Henley is to appear as a “body double” in a film based on a comic book character.

Eva Merry, 12, will substitute for actress Eve Ridley, who plays Ruthye Marye Knoll in Supergirl, which is set to be released in June.

The American superhero film is based on the eponymous character from DC comics and stars Milly Alcock in the title role.

Directed by Craig Gillespie, the film follows Supergirl as she travels across the galaxy on a murderous quest for revenge.

Eva’s character is a “noble and honour-bound” warrior who teams-up with Supergirl to hunt down Krem of the Yellow Hills for killing her father.

Filming restrictions for child actors mean that body doubles are often hired to space out filming, taking the burden off a single child.

Eva featured in shots filmed from behind or where her character’s face was not visible. This included, among others, running shots and one scene where she draws a prop sword.

She said: “I worked on so many sets and just seeing all the other actors was so cool and then having the chance to do it myself was a great learning opportunity.

“I was definitely really nervous at first but there were really nice chaperones on set and even the director came up to me to introduce themselves and let me know where to go if I had any worries.”

Eva described Ridley as “genuinely so nice”, having spent “pretty much every day with her” during filming, whether that be on set or completing homework together.

The two remain close, having exchanged phone numbers, and texting every once in a while.

Eva who attends Shiplake College, said that she was expected to keep up with her school work while she was on set from January to April last year.

She added: “I also had a tutor on set who was really nice and helped me cover everything I would have been doing at school in one-on-one classes – my school would send my tutor the work from lessons so that I didn’t fall behind.”

Eva travelled to Warner Brother Studios Leavesden in Watford for casting and so she could have her measurements taken.

A 360-degree image was taken and even the most minute measurements, such as her handspan and neck length to ensure that she was a good match for the Ridley, so the transition between the actors was seamless.

Once Eva was selected out of a group of girls, filming began and with it, early morning starts. Her mother Daniella and her father would take it in turns to drive her to and from filming, with a back-and-forth journey taking about two hours. They would often leave home at 4.30am, with filming wrapping up around 4pm.

Mrs Merry said that they didn’t initially know what the film was about but the agent “gave me the eyes” and they knew it was going to be big.

A drama scholar at Shiplake College, Eva is committed to her LAMDA and is often front and centre of many school productions, such as her upcoming role as Wishee Washee in the school’s pantomime, Aladdin.

Mrs Farrell, the assistant head and head of drama at Shiplake College, described Eva as “incredibly dedicated” and “the ideal kind of drama scholar”.

She said: “She’s super creative, with brilliant directorial ideas and has an intelligent understanding of stagecraft and communication. She’s a super conscientious student so even though she had time off school, it didn’t really feel like that because she stayed on top of her work and slotted back into life again.”

This is not the first time Eva has set foot on a film set – having previously appeared in smaller productions starring actors such as Ryan Gosling.

She is now hoping to progress towards playing more central roles in future projects, with her most inspiring role model in acting being Emma Watson, made famous in the Harry Potter film series, where she played Hermoine.

Eva says her dream role would be to play Wednesday Addams, of The Addams Family, currently performed by Jenna Ortega as part of the long-running TV series aired on Netflix.

Her involvement in the industry started after signing with an agency four years ago. They nominate her for roles, which she matches the look and skill set of.

Neither of Eva’s parents describe themselves as particularly skilled in the arts but Mrs Merry said that Eva’s past agent attended Eva’s dance class and encouraged her to sign up.

Now, her two younger sisters, aged seven and 10, are following in her footsteps after signing with the same agency and dancing outside of school, something Mrs Merry describes as resulting in her and her husband “tag-teaming with dance runs”.

Outside of school, Eva attends Advance School of Dance in Woodley at least three times a week, a studio Mrs Merry describes as “current, competitive and fast-paced”.

Supergirl, produced by Warner Bros Pictures, is slated to be released on June 26.