Super trouper

WHEN Scottish actor Ashley Lilley got offered the part of her young lifetime she was glad to make a song and dance of it

I HAD a couple of scenes with Meryl Streep, which is obviously amazing for a young actor like me," says Scot Ashley Lilley, one of the stars of the new Mamma Mia! movie, an adaptation of the hugely popular musical. "She has a huge voice. I'd never heard her singing before, so that really surprised me."

Being up close with a stellar celebrity such as Streep isn't something that happens to many actresses, especially ones with careers as new as Lilley's. Just seven years ago the 22-year-old moved from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.

She was inspired to apply for a scholarship there thanks to a local star – someone most young women might not even have heard of.

"Lena Zavaroni came from Rothesay and went to the same primary school as my dad," Lilley says. "I knew of her career and her big voice and that she went to Italia Conti. She was my main influence, so I had to go there too."

Now, here Lilley is – appearing as Ali, the best friend of main character Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried (of Mean Girls fame), in a summer blockbuster alongside Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. For those who haven't seen the stage show, Mamma Mia! is the story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father, told using hit songs by the 1970s supergroup Abba. The film is light and cheery – effervescent summer viewing for those who like to sing along, under their breath, in the cinema.

"It's an amazing film," she says. "When I got the script breakdown, my agent actually said, 'You're not getting your hopes up for that, are you babe?'. Still, I went to the auditions – danced, did a reading, and sang a couple of Abba songs, including I Have a Dream. When I was offered the part I was wild with excitement."

In fact, she was so ebullient that her understanding boss at her day job (as an assistant at children's play-centre Gymboree) let her clock off early to phone home, so she could tell her mum and dad the good news. She was especially pleased to be able to reassure her parents that she would be sticking with her Scottish lilt for this film. Unusually for US-based Universal Pictures, an accent adjustment wasn't required. At least she can't be slated for being a Brit with a fake-sounding twang.

"I really didn't want to get any stick for being the person in the film with the dodgy accent," says Lilley. "Being allowed to be Scottish was my favourite part about the whole thing. When I went along to the first audition, I did an English accent, like in the stage show, but they asked me to keep my own. I just hope nobody ends up saying, 'check out the girl with the bad Scottish accent'."

When filming eventually began, in June last year, Lilley found herself splitting her time between the Mediterranean locations of Skopelos, Skiathos, Damouchari and . . . London. Yes, although Mamma Mia! looks to be set in a land of glorious Technicolor sunshine, much of it was shot just outside London.

"We filmed some of it in Pinewood Studios, on the original Bond set," Lillie says. "They decked it out like a Greek villa, with olive trees that they'd brought over especially. It didn't look any different from our other set, which really was in Greece. That is despite the fact that we knew it was chucking it down with rain outside."

Working in the iconic studios was exciting enough. However, the piece de resistance for Lilley was sharing a routine with someone who'd worked at Pinewood before – a dapper 007, from pre-Daniel Craig days.

"I got to film a dance sequence with Pierce Brosnan, which was very, very lucky for me," she laughs. "He was great, so much fun and up for a giggle. In rehearsals, he liked to dance around to all the Abba tracks."

Most young women would quake at the thought of boogieing up close with the suave 1990s Bond. Although Lilley sounds pretty unfazed about the whole thing, she admits that she had a few butterflies meeting some other familiar faces, especially Julie Walters and Christine Baranski – "just brilliant, older female actors". However, as her grounding is in dance and musical theatre, she was most nervous about performing in front of the camera in straight acting scenes, with no songs to hide behind.

"Luckily for me, Rachel McDowall, who plays Sophie's other best friend, Lisa, also comes from a dancing and singing background, so we were in the same boat," says Lilley. "Getting in front of the cameras was all about getting out of our comfort zones.

"It was hard, but Amanda Seyfried helped us with the straight acting bits and, in return, we helped her with dancing and singing. Although the other celebs didn't offer us any advice as such, they kept us calm by being chilled out and relaxed."

Despite the stress of it being her first film, Lilley sailed through without too many retakes. She's now involved in a few general tweaks, such as recording the accompanying soundtrack, before the film's release next week. The film has meant she's been able to get a US acting agent, and is now toying with the idea of moving across the pond.

"That would be the dream, because I love New York. My boyfriend is a musician so I keep trying to persuade him that we should move there for the sake of our careers," says the London-based Lilley.

Still, you wonder if the patriotic actor would feel homesick, being so far away from Scotland. Even with this major feature film under her belt, Lilley's favourite role so far was in a theatre production, Parade, at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005.

"It was the best job I've done, the best part I've played and the most fun," she says. "I'm not just saying that because I'm Scottish."

If she does move abroad she might also miss the trips across the Firth of Clyde to get back home.

"It's surreal going over to Bute because you feel so far away from the madness of London, with people banging into you on the Tube," she says. "You have to get the train to Wemyss Bay, then get a boat across to the gorgeous island.

"It's just such a nice feeling getting there."

Mamma Mia! is on nationwide release from Thursday, 10 July.