A SCHOOLGIRL will launch her professional acting career in style after landing a lead role at the National Theatre.

Demi Papaminas fought off competition from hundreds of youngsters to win a part in Emil and the Detectives, which opens at the Olivier stage of the prestigious venue on London’s Southbank this November.

The 12-year-old, of Winchester Road, Hanworth, will play Hilde in the forgotten children’s classic about a boy’s action-packed hunt for a thief in 1920s Berlin.

“When I found out I had been chosen I was so excited and I am looking forward to performing in the shows,” she said.

Demi, who studies at Waldegrave School for Girls, in Twickenham, has been dancing since she was three and attends Isleworth’s Valerie School of Dancing.

The youngster has already appeared in a short film and a dog food advert this year. She said her big screen idol was Audrey Hepburn.