District’s latest star is born

Little Eva Beattie in costume for her appearance in Game of Thrones, with parents Elyse and Jordan

had already embarked on an

acting career, having filmed an appearance in the HBO

fantasy drama television

series Game of Thrones.

Excited mum Elyse McDonald is delighted that her daughter, now aged eight months, had a part in season four, episode four, as a baby sacrificially laid on a slab by the show’s monstrous ‘White Walkers’.

“We are all very proud of her and so pleased she was picked to play a small part in such a famous world-wide show,” said Elyse.

Eva’s grandparents are also delighted, including proud grandad Will Gibson from Banbridge.

The adventure all started when a friend sent Elyse a link on Facebook for Extras NI, saying they were looking for new born babies.

“We applied and two days later they phoned and asked could we come in for two days filming, but we got on so well they then asked us to come in for a third day,” said Elyse.

As a new mum, Elyse was pretty tired and still up through the night doing feeds but said adrenaline carried them through.

“We were just so excited,” she said. “My partner Jordan and I are big fans of the show so when we applied we really hoped that Eva would get the part.

“The filming took place at the end of October at Shane’s Castle and as we had to be on set for 6am this meant we had to leave home at 5am.”

But despite the early start Eva seemed to be a natural, taking it all in her stride.

“She got on really well,” said Elyse “she even cried when she was supposed to cry and the production staff said she was one of the best babies they have had on set, she was just so well behaved and at no time unsettled.”

There was just one scene where it all started to get a bit much for Eva and she wanted to sleep. “We had to keep her awake for the scene, but with a little coaxing she stayed awake ok,” said Elyse.

The scene Eva was cast in was set in ice and snow and she was wrapped up in an old potato sack, but Elyse said she was actually very happy as the sack had a secret fleece lining to keep her warm and snug.

Eva played her role perfectly, crying throughout the scene, and so her little cries are used for some of the other babies who didn’t cry.

Elyse said Eva was looked after really well.

“She was only allowed to film for 15 minutes at any one time,” she said.

The episode was screened on national TV two weeks ago but Eva is of course still oblivious to all the fuss.”