Stagecoach student Alice Miller, 13, featured in the film Wicked, which was released on November 22, 2024.
Wicked follows the story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), who is misunderstood because of her green skin, when she forms a friendship with Glinda (Ariana Grande), a student with a desire for popularity. Their friendship reaches a crossroad after they encounter the Wizard of Oz, and they choose to take different paths.
Alice, played the role ‘Meanie’, and filmed the scene she was in in the same part of the set as where the song “I’m not that girl” was shot.
Alice has been acting for eight years (Image: Stagecoach)
She said: “I was an extra, my agent put me up for it and then the people running the movie saw my profile and decided they wanted me in it.
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“When I first found out I got the part, I didn’t know it was Wicked! It was very early and they had a different name for it.
“The set was really nice and the costumes were really good. There was a lot of waiting to do, I had two days of costume fitting and one day of filming.
“It was so exciting.”
The role came after eight years of hard work performing at Stagecoach Blandford Forum & Shaftesbury, and an audition for Sally King Agency, which offered her the chance to partake in the filming at Sky Studios Elstree in Borehamwood and see lots of the set.
“It was really nice seeing everything”, she added.
Cynthia and Ariana at the Wicked opening night (Credit: Ian West (PA) Alice’s mum, Annabelle, said: “We’re not a stagey family, when we kind of worked it out [what the film was] I think we were like, ‘oh my goodness!’ We were so excited for her.
“We were just really pleased that she had that opportunity. It was just magical – magical as you see it in the movie.”
Around 18 months after filming, all while having to keep her role a secret, she watched the film at a small cinema in Frome.
Then, she watched a sing-along version with her friends from Stagecoach and her 16-year-old sister, who first inspired her to join Stagecoach.
Alice said: “I was nervous – it was quite scary but when I saw me it was like, wow!
“Stagecoach boosted my confidence and helped me know that I can do stuff like that. It’s a really good confidence boost.”