THE young Gwynedd star of Guide Dogs’ television advert has won her first major acting role alongside some Hollywood stars.

Seven-year-old Nell Sutton, who has sight loss, has been cast in the four-part Netflix adaptation of All The Light We Cannot See alongside Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie.

The Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr tells the story of a blind French teenager, Marie-Laure, whose path crosses that of a young WW2 German soldier in occupied France.

Nell lives in Llwyngwril with mother Rachel, father Paul, older brother Isaac and little sister Martha - who also played a role in the Guide Dogs advert as Nell’s friend.

Rachel got in touch with the casting agents after spotting an online appeal for a vision-impaired child to play the young Marie.

“Nell did the Guide Dogs television advert and found it such a positive experience that she wanted to go on acting,” her mum Rachel, who now works for Guide Dogs Cymru as a trainee habilitation specialist, said.

“She took part in several rounds of online auditions during last summer’s lockdown, learning snippets from the script while I had to be the other character in the scene.

“When she finally auditioned in front of the director, I forgot my cue because I was so nervous.

“We didn’t tell her it was an audition, just that some people had seen the television advert and wanted to see her do a bit of acting.

“Straight after the final audition, they gave her 15 minutes to learn a different script, but she managed.

“She did a completely fresh audition and had to show different emotions, doing the scene as if angry or upset.”

The family went for a walk on the beach after school and filmed the moment they told Nell she had the role.

“She was excited and bubbly - typical Nell - then she began working out what it meant,” Rachel said.

“She couldn’t wait to run off and tell her grandparents, and she’s very excited about going on a plane and meeting the director, Shawn Levy.

“She has already spoken a bit of Welsh to him, sung him a Welsh song and offered to teach him a little bit of the language when they meet up.”

Nell has already got to know Aria Mia Loberti, the actress playing the older Marie-Laure.

Rachel said: “Aria is also vision impaired and new to acting.

“When the director saw Nell’s audition he knew he wanted to try and cast two vision-impaired females for authenticity.

“It sends a powerful message when we see people in the media from different backgrounds and races.

“This is a fabulous opportunity to highlight and celebrate people with a vision impairment.

“Winning this role sends a positive message to young people with sight loss that you can do what you want to do.

“Nell has been very lucky in a way, but she has worked for it.

“This proves that being visually impaired does not have to get in her way and does not define her.”