She may be just six, but little Ellis Somers is no stranger to the spotlight and this Christmas her beaming smile has graced the famous screens on Piccadily Circus.
For the second year running the Kesgrave youngster has appeared in Hyundai’s festive advert, cementing her role as a commercial star.
Mum Tara admits her daughter’s fame is a little surreal, especially “seeing her face pop-up on social media nonstop”.
This Christmas Ellis, who has featured in multiple adverts including commercials for Rightmove and George at Asda, plays a role in ‘The Night Before Christmas’ video Hyundai which was released on Tuesday, December 11.
The advert shows Ellis, a pupil at Heath Primary, in Kesgrave, taking part in a puppet show with her on-screen family with the message, with the underlying meesage that we should make more family time this Christmas. The advert promotes the car giant’s new generation Santa Fe.
Speaking of her time on screen, Ellis said: “My favourite bit was when I peeked out of the curtains because I look like a cheeky elf.”
This was the second year running that Ellis had been chosen to star in the brand’s festive advert – with production even moving the filming date in order to accommodate Ellis’ schedule.
And she is no longer just a star of the small screen because the advert was shown on the big screens at Piccadilly Circus over three days this month.
“It was a proud mum moment,” said her 38-year-old mum, before adding: “She is a complete natural and never gets shy.”
Ellis stumbled across her acting talents when her mum, who is the chief executive officer of Home Start in Suffolk, needed someone to star in a potty training video.
The toddler revelled in her moment in the spotlight and hasn’t looked back since.
Her mum added: “If she could give up school and do this everyday she would.
“She is treated like royalty on set because she’s normally the only child in the room. It’s easy to see how young stars can become divas, but Ellis isn’t.”
“She leaves the set the same way she enters – it’s very rare to not be flagging at the age of six after a long day filming, and that’s why they like her so much,” said Tara.
The family have learnt to embrace this new world, although Ellis has tried to keep her fame under wraps at school.
That may be a challenge as her career progresses, she has a number of other adverts in the pipeline already.
However, Ellis’ dream is to become a writer - so she may find herself behind the camera in years to come.
Her mum says that while she’s still young and has an endearing smile they will try and do as many adverts as they can.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here