A SCHOOLGIRL from Greenock is the star of a new national TV advert encouraging youngsters to talk about what is on their minds.
Zoe Casement, seven, landed a role in an advert produced as part of ITV’s new ‘Britain Get Talking’ campaign.
The Whinhill Primary School pupil is one of several children who appear in the advert, which encourages young people to speak out and open up about anything that may be worrying them.
Zoe delivers the final line in the clip, encouraging others to ‘get talking’.
Her mum Kelly-Anne helped Zoe film a self-taped audition which earned her a Zoom meeting with producers earlier this year.
Kelly-Anne said: “It was funny because she was in a bad mood that day because her dad had pinched her sweeties, so she was actually sitting in front of the camera in a huff!
"A couple of days later we heard back to say they wanted to invite her down to London.
“I thought Zoe would be a good fit because she’s just got a way with words and she’s not shy.”
Zoe and Kelly-Anne were invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to London in August to film the advert.
The primary three pupil told the Tele that she is enjoying her new-found fame and has even been asked for autographs in school.
She said: “It was so much fun.
“Every day people in school come up and say, ‘I saw you on the telly!’.”
Prior to filming, psychologists sat down with Zoe and explained the topic of the campaign to her.
They stayed in touch with her throughout the process and will continue to do so.
Kelly-Anne says she and her husband Craig are proud to see their daughter helping to put an important message out to other children.
She added: “There are a lot of kids out there who maybe don’t want to talk about a lot of things.
“It was really good the way they’ve done it with Zoe because she’s the last face, so it’s memorable.
“Hopefully it encourages more people to speak out with such a sensitive subject and it lets them know that it doesn’t matter what age you are.
“You can be from no age to school age, or high school age.
“As Zoe says, get talking.”
As part of the campaign, ITV is urging children and their families to have a chat about whatever is on their minds.
The network has also produced a homework exercise to mark World Mental Health Day on October 10.
The materials can be found at itv.com/britaingettalking/
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