Top Capital talent lands role in gritty teen soap opera Skins

But while most youngsters would not even admit to their parents that they watch hit show Skins, one Edinburgh girl has had to break the news that she has landed a lead role in the new series.

Freya Mavor has turned her acting dream into a reality after being selected from 8000 hopefuls to appear in the new series of E4 programme.

The 17-year-old from Canonmills will form part of the new eight-strong cast in series five, and she can't believe her luck.

She said: "It's insane to think I'm in Skins, I've always been a fan and I'm so lucky that I'm in something which I've always admired."

Talented Freya will join seven other young actors - three girls and four boys, aged 16-18 - to head up the new gang.

The show has a reputation for breaking new talent, and open auditions were held for the roles at venues in London and Bristol in April, with Freya impressing the judges at the Bristol audition to land her first big screen role.

She said: "I got the part through the open auditions in Bristol. I overheard about them in conversation on a bus and thought this was something I needed to be part of.

"I went along, queued for hours, made friends - it was crazy but all totally worth it."

The entire cast of Skins changes every two years and Freya will remain in the show for the next two series.

The after-the-watershed programme is set in Bristol and follows the group's college years, and the life experiences they have, often dealing with controversial subjects.

A spokesman for the BAFTA award-winning programme said: "Freya plays a crucial part, she's one of the main girls. Skins follows the group's two-year college process and teenage life. It's the period of your life where you start to dye your hair and get tattoos and piercings. It is about growing into your skin."

Freya has been busy filming for her new role since mid-July and will continue filming until December, before the new series starts in January.

Executive producer of Skins, John Giffin, said: "More people than ever turned up this year for the open auditions. It was a huge process but incredibly rewarding, and we hope that the auditionees had as much fun as we did. We now have a brilliant cast of actors for series five."

STARS MOVE ON TO GREATER THINGS

SKINS has featured its fair share of talented young actors and actresses, several of whom have enjoyed successful film careers.

Dakota Blue Richards, who will star in the new series of the programme, appeared with Nicole Kidman in The Golden Compass in 2007. She was cast as the lead role, Lyra Belacqua.

Nicolas Hoult played Tony Stonem in the first two series of Skins, which followed his role in 2002 film About a Boy. Since his role in Skins, he has starred in BBC's Wallander and A Single Man.

Dev Patel played the part of Anwar Kharral, a British Pakistani Muslim teenager, in Skins' series 1 and 2. He went on to play Jamal Malik, the central character in Slumdog Millionaire.

Kaya Scodelario is best known for her role as Effy Stonem in Skins. She made her film debut in the science fiction-thriller Moon.

Jack O'Connell made his film debut in 2006 in This Is England and two years later appeared in the horror/thriller, Eden Lake, as the film villain Brett. He also played James Cook in Skins.