Young actor Sophie Feldman is making her major screen debut in new Amazon Media and JAM Studios preschool series Jessy and Nessy, where she stars as lead character Jessy alongside Jamie Buchanan who voices the purple sea monster Nessy. The series follows the two best friends exploring life’s curiosities, and when Jessy puts on her magical glasses – her ‘Inspectacles’ – she sees a whole world full of animated characters. Jessy and Nessy has recently been made available for free to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Before booking her leading role for Amazon, Sophie recorded Proud Mary by Tina Turner for The AA advert, with it being aired on TV across the country. We had a chat with Sophie about her new lead role in Jessy and Nessy, what she learnt whilst filming as Jessy and recording Proud Mary for a TV commercial.

How did it feel booking the role of Jessy in new Amazon series Jessy and Nessy?

It was rather overwhelming and I didn’t think that it was for real – it was like a dream come true.

Can you tell us about the show and your character?

I am a little kid who puts on her inspectacles and sees a whole new magical world with her best friend Nessy. The show helps kids understand that there is always an explanation for everything, and there are answers to their curiosities.

Why do you think children will like Nessy?

Nessy has a good sense of humour telling jokes that children understand and he was always there for me.

What was the theme tune like to record?

I did this in a recording studio with Jamie, who played Nessy, and we had loads of fun recording it – Jamie made me laugh loads. It was easy to record because the lyrics matched the story of us.

How was it seeing the finished show?

It was a little bit weird seeing myself on TV, and seeing everything coming to life was really cool as all I acted with in the green screen was green sticks and props.

How did your friends and family react to seeing you as Jessy?

They were all so proud of me and my friends were excited to see me on television, especially my best friend Libby who had watched the whole series before school on the day it came out.

Did you have a favourite episode to film?

My favourite episode that I filmed isn’t out yet but my favourite that has been released is How Do We Cheer Our Friends Up? because it had the most props in it when we were filming.

What’s it like having Jessy and Nessy as your first lead screen role?

We had the best fun filming, the entire crew became my friends and I still hear from them now. I have been told not to expect all productions to be that fun to make, so I guess I was very lucky and for my first lead role to be on Amazon Prime all over the world and dubbed in lots of different languages was so cool – I have seen it in Spanish!!

What did you learn when filming the show?

I learnt that really anything is possible if you work hard at it, you have to work really hard learning lines and I learnt to listen to direction as that was one of the most important things. I also learnt some filming language, the assistant director Nick always said ‘cut the chat chaps’ before we did a take.

How much fun was it on set?

It was really, really fun on set. Everyone had the best sense of humour and we spent so much time laughing, the director became my best friend and we played some really silly games together. The crew set a themed fancy dress day each week and I would choose the winner each time.

What would you like to say to fans of the show?

I hope that they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it, and I hope it helps them to understand that you can always find answers to your questions.

You previously recorded for The AA advert singing Tina Turner, what was this like to be involved with?

That was good fun too, but so different to this experience making Jessy and Nessy. For The AA, I only spent one day in a film studio and was crammed into a baby’s car seat with a couple of days in a recording studio too. But as my first job, it was so exciting to see it come out on television.

What TV shows do you enjoy watching?

I’m not big into TV, I do love watching things like Super Nanny though and Dance Moms!!

How do you like to spend your free time?

I love dancing and singing so I go to a couple of clubs/groups during the week. In one of my dance groups, we are currently rehearsing to perform our routine at the Prince of Wales Theatre later in the year. I love animals so time outside with my dog is fun and my favourite sport is netball.