A TALENTED schoolboy has landed yet another prestigious acting role.

Emile Gooding will wow audiences when he plays Freddie in the English National Ballet's adaptation of The Nutcracker.

The 12-year-old is no stranger to performing on big stages, having already been cast as Billy Elliot in the iconic West End musical.

He studied at Early St Peter's Primary School until he received a full scholarship at Tring Park School of Performing Arts.

Sedge Gooding, Emile's mother, said: "It's a brilliant role, it's very exciting.

"He has been at Tring for two years now.

"It's amazing that he got offered a full scholarship because he is a little performer. He auditioned and they were on the phone after a week.

"He has academic classes in the afternoon and dance classes in the morning.

"Emile wants to be a principal dancer for the English National Ballet."

Emile will play the role of Freddie, the mischievous brother to young Clara, who finds herself journeying through a magical world with a Nutcracker doll, a present given to her by a family friend on Christmas Eve.

Despite a tough start to life living away from home aged just 12, Emile's mother, 46, said he has settled into life at the prestigious school.

She added: "When he was doing Billy Elliot it was really hard. He was on tour and at a private school so we hardly saw him.

"We did struggle but now he's a full time boarder so he can come home on weekends.

"I did ask him if he wanted to be a day boarder but he said no."

Young Emile will perform at The London Coliseum on various dates throughout December.