Lord of the Flies star, 10, made 'friends for life' on set

A 10-year-old actor has said he was "speechless" when he got cast in a new BBC drama that was filmed thousands of miles from home.

Alfie Kiely from Caldicot, Monmouthshire, spent three months in Malaysia while shooting Lord of the Flies, playing one of the "Littluns".

From pizza parties by the hotel pool to monkeys stealing his food, Alfie says the experience was "really fun" and he made "friends for life" with his cast mates.

The first ever TV adaptation of the William Golding novel will air on 8 February on BBC One.

Lord of The Flies - written by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne - is the biggest role to date for Alfie, who has previously appeared in adverts and an episode of Casualty.

He went through four auditions before he got the part as one of the "Littluns", the youngest group who are stranded on an unnamed Pacific island.

Only eight years old at the time, he found out he got the role during one of his acting classes.

"I was a bit stunned, speechless," he said.

"I was so happy though."

Along with his mum, Alfie made the almost 7,000-mile (11,300km) journey to Malaysia, the furthest he had ever travelled from home.

He said Malaysia was "really fun" and he enjoyed visiting waterfalls and waterparks, while also doing school work sent from Monmouthshire.

"I missed home and friends but it was really fun out there," he said.

Filming took place on an uninhabited island, with Alfie wearing three layers of clothing in temperatures of more than 30C (86F) to film some scenes.

Alfie says he made friends for life while working with more than 30 other children, who swam and ate pizza in their free time.

As well as his new friends, there was plenty of wildlife to keep him company, including a highly venomous Malaysian Red Centipede which Alfie saw on set, while he also had other animal encounters.

"One day we were sat by the poolside and the monkey came down, went in our bag, took our Pringles and sat on our sunbed and ate them," he said.

There was a big welcome for the actor when he returned back to school in Monmouthshire.

"They saw me walking back, they were shouting 'Alfie' and it was really cute."

While he thinks the series might be a bit "dark" for his friends, Alfie will be watching the show for the first time at the London premiere on Saturday.

"I'm excited because I get to see all my friends from Malaysia again."

Mum Vicki said she was "so proud" of her son, who worked "really hard" on-camera and behind the scenes.

"People see the good side of [child acting], but there is so much rejection.

"It's probably taught him at an early age, how to deal with rejection as well.

"Resilience is so good, he seems to have the right level with it."

With filming taking place more than two years ago, Alfie has already taken part in other projects and is set to play the brother of George Washington in a film about the US president's early life.

His dream is to appear in a musical film, and he attends four different dance classes a week, as well as piano, gymnastics and monthly musical theatre workshops.

He said: "It's all very fun, and everyone's nice.

"I enjoy expressing yourself and stuff."