Sweet moment London girl, 14, discovers she has landed John Lewis Christmas ad role

Brooke Hart discovering she has got the part in this year's John Lewis Christmas ad

This is the sweet moment a teenage actor from London found out she had been cast in the role of a foster child in the new John Lewis Christmas advert.

Brooke Hart, 14, from Lambeth, south London was on a video call with her agent when he dropped the bombshell that she had landed the coveted part.

This year’s 90-second ad is aimed at raising awareness of children in care and tells the story of a middle-aged man learning to skateboard before welcoming a young teenager, Ellie, into the family home.

After some smalltalk, agent Mark Jermin delivers the big news to a clearly shocked Brooke.

The youngster, who is still wearing her school uniform in the clip, can be seen putting her hand to her mouth in disbelief.

Brooke is then sworn to secrecy about her part, ahead of the advert's release on Thursday.

The advert was filmed in Lewisham, with the borough's council on Friday urging people in the area to consider becoming foster carers.

John Lewis said it understood that not all foster carers had the benefit of knowing who they would be looking after in advance and that its broader campaign also featured “authentic voices of carers” and “young people with different experiences of a complex care system”.

But it said that “in a challenging year, we felt it was important to demonstrate that it’s what we do that matters most”, adding it was proud to use its Christmas ad to “generate conversation and action around an often overlooked issue”.

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