ONE of the country's most promising actresses who learnt her trade at a west Wiltshire school has taken the leading role in a new ITV period drama.
Former Stonar School pupil Romola Garai, 23, will star in The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant, which starts this Sunday.
Romola, who was a pupil at the private girl's school in Atworth until 16 and developed her love of acting by taking part in productions there, will appear alongside This Life actor Jack Davenport and Hollywood star Sam Neill.
Romola, who spent her early years in Singapore and Hong Kong but later moved with her family to Calne, exploded onto the international scene in 2004, when she appeared alongside Reese Witherspoon in Mira Nair's adaptation of Vanity Fair, which was partly filmed in Bath.
She also appeared on the front cover of Vanity Fair, wearing multi-million pound gems in the run-up to the film's release.
Romola's father Adrian is the former head of the West Wiltshire Economic Partnership based in Trowbridge. Her mother Janet is a former journalist.
The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant is about a teenage convict transported to a penal colony in New South Wales in 1788. With a budget of $15m this was the largest TV mini series ever filmed in Australia.
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