Disney’s animated series Sadie Sparks can currently be seen on POP Channel in the UK with the lead character of Sadie being voiced by Georgia Lock over all 52 episodes. With the upcoming release of feature film Me, Myself & Di, Georgia will be playing Araminta, and has had previous lead roles in The Evermoor Chronicles for Disney over a number of years as Bella Crossley and Sadie J for CBBC for her first TV acting role as Sadie. Georgia has also released her own music to streaming services and, with her love of poetry, she will be having her new poetry book published in the near future. Talking with Georgia, she tells us about voicing the role of Sadie in Sadie Sparks, releasing music and starting her career in CBBC’s Sadie J.

You voice the role of Sadie in Sadie Sparks for Disney, can you say more about the character and series?

Sadie Sparks is a teenage wizard who is going through all the stages of growing up whilst also honing her skills as a very talented wizard! She’s a clumsy, loveable goofball, and it was so much fun to play her. Along with her sidekick, a 700-year-old grumpy English rabbit called Gilbert, they save the day on numerous occasions! They’re such a great pair, I love their friendship and hope the audience does too!

How different have you found this project to your other work, and what do you enjoy most about voiceover?

Sadie is American, and the series is 52 episodes long, so I had to make sure the accent was right! That was a really exciting challenge. I had never done animation voicing before and it was a real learning curve – I was so lucky to be surrounded by such pros in the rest of the cast who I could learn from! I love how freeing voiceover is. Especially a show about a magical wizard; every episode is a fantasy world and it’s always fun to escape reality that way!

The show is being released this month in the UK on POP channel, what can children expect from the series?

Fun, adventure, friendship! And maybe a love triangle. Haha!

You’re in the upcoming release of feature film Me, Myself & Di as Araminta, what can you tell us about filming for the role?

Araminta is such a sweet character. I think a highlight for me was the rest of my “family”! Wonderful Tyger Drew-Honey, who I’ve known for so many years, playing my brother, and Jenny Funnell was the actress playing my mother. We met on set, but she’s one of my closest friends now! Some people are just blessings to meet.

What are you looking forward to for the release?

It’s a happy film, and I think if there’s anything we need in the world right now, it’s to laugh and feel good! I hope it leaves people with a smile on their face 😃.

We understand you were involved with the award-winning William West film Loveday, how was this to work on?

Magical! Will has a very exciting future ahead of him. It was a script set over lots of wonderful locations in London – filming was joyful.

Can you tell us about your time on set of The Evermoor Chronicles as Bella Crossley?

Ah, I miss this show so much! Bella had a really big character arc, she grew up massively by the final series and became a lot more self-aware. Some of my happiest memories are filming this series. All the cast and crew were so lovely, we really lucked out with that! I was honoured to be part of that show, it was such fun. And so great meeting Mr Finney Cassidy! One of my best pals.

You started your acting career on CBBC’s Sadie J in 2011, what are some of your favourite memories from working on the series?

Everything! This show is how I began working in this industry, and I owe it so much. I was pretty shy as a child and Sadie gave me confidence. A lot of times when I feel shy these days, I still think “what would Sadie do?”! Her confidence really helped me in day to day life. It was my first acting job, and it will stay with me forever. Also, Thulani (who played Sadie’s boyfriend, Taylor) moved in down the road recently, which is wonderful as he’s such a good friend and it’s great to have him nearby!

This role led to you being a presenter on Friday Download, what did you enjoy most about being involved with the show?

The audience; it was always such a lovely buzz feeling the children be so excited to be there! A real honour to know they were happy to be there to see us.

Did you always know you wanted a career in entertainment and was there anything that encouraged you to start auditioning for roles?

I was shy when I was younger, and at eight I realised acting helped me speak to people and I just found it such fun… Acting really helped with my confidence, and I fell in love with it for that!

Can you say about the music you’ve released including Taxi, which was released July 10th?

I just love to write stuff! I remember I wrote my first song at eight (it was terrible, of course!). I’d never done anything with them as I can’t play instruments so they were all stuck in my notebook. Then I went through a really dark time with my mental health, and as I started to slowly feel a bit better, I wanted to focus on something. The first song I released called Skin is about mental health and finding hope even when it’s really hard.

What inspired you to start releasing music?

It gives me a focus and I find it helps keeps my mind calm haha! I like to try and stay creative when I’m not acting. And as I say, after struggling so much with my OCD I really wanted to put my energy into something, and the lyrics to Skin are really important to me 😃. My hope is that if anyone else is struggling, they might find some peace in that song.

How do you come up with the ideas for writing your songs?

Often life events, or memories that I embellish, but also I sometimes just imagine scenarios. I have a massive box full of paper scraps with poems on (when I was working in a restaurant I’d write poems on the order pads or receipts), and sometimes I see an old scribble and think “hmm that could make a good lyric” – or I’m listening to a song and think it would be fun to try and write something in that style. I find it almost like a game, a puzzle 😃.

Have you always had an interest in poetry and what do you enjoy most about this?

Poetry was an interest that came later for me, I think I had yet to come across a poet that I really loved, and when I did, it was a real gateway into that world and made me love all kinds of poems. I just find them magical, really. I’m reading a collection of poems at the moment called The Poetry Pharmacy, and I’m really enjoying it.

What future plans do you have for music and poetry?

Music, I don’t necessarily have one, and I enjoy that because it means I’m not stressing about it. I don’t want any pressure with it – I just enjoy writing and creating songs, and if people enjoy them too then that is wonderful! I’d really love to write songs for other people as well – I write in a lot of styles, but a lot of them don’t suit my voice! I’m very excited as last year I won a competition to have my poetry book published. The poet who made me love poetry in the first place (Christopher Poindexter) was running a competition with his publishing company, and somehow I won. The book is being printed at the moment 😃. It’ll be out soon.

What TV shows do you enjoy watching and what music artists do you listen to?

Friends is an all-time favourite of mine. I also love Would I Lie to You, Whose Line is it Anyway, and Gavin and Stacey. And Flight of the Conchords! I enjoy things that make me laugh; I have lots of anxiety so comedies are my favourite. Although I did manage to watch Messiah recently and thought that was fantastic. Bodyguard was brilliant too. Along with Mr Robot! (Also, NCIS because it’s just a classic!) My favourite film is Poesía sin fin by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Music is hard to say! I love Motown as a genre. Florence and the Machine is wonderful, and I also really love Leon Bridges and Oh Wonder. And Parcels! Depends a lot on my mood 😃.

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