Brentwood School pupil Delilah O’Riordan has made her Netflix debut starring in festive comedy drama Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, which has opened to rave reviews.
A Year 7 performing arts scholar, Delilah is no stranger to the spotlight and, at the age of 11, is already credited with an impressive stage and screen acting CV. Christmas on Mistletoe Farm is currently in the top ten most watched films on Netflix in 59 countries.
The Netflix project saw her rubbing shoulders with stars such as Celia Imrie and Scott Garnham, whose credits include Pompidou and Billy Elliot The Musical.
Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, directed by Debbie Isitt – who wrote and directed all four Nativity! films – is about a widowed father, who after inheriting a farm at Christmas time makes a bumpy adjustment to village life while his children hatch a plan to stay there forever.
Delilah, who plays the eldest of the five siblings, Rosie Cunningham, explained: “Working on Christmas on Mistletoe Farm has been without a doubt the most magical adventure of my life so far. We, the five Cunningham siblings, lived in a hotel near the set for six weeks and by the end I felt as though I really did have four new younger siblings.”
Delilah, whose dream is to be a professional film and musical theatre actress, was always destined for a life in show business, and first appeared on stage as a young child.
But illness has meant an acting career was by no means a certainty.
Her mother Michelle O’Riordan said: “She suffered from severe glue ear causing deafness from the ages of four to eight. We were told that most people with her level of hearing loss would give up academically and become disruptive. Delilah didn’t do either of those things and this hearing loss makes her achievements all the more remarkable. She is the most tenacious person I know.”
