'I'm the only Yorkshire boy in Lord of the Flies'

A nine-year-old actor who is the only boy from Yorkshire to appear in the new BBC adaptation of Lord of the Flies has spoken about the life-changing experience of being part of the series.

Bon Cooper, from Harrogate, was cast as one of the "littleuns" - the youngest of a group of 1950s schoolboys who are stranded on a tropical island and have to fend for themselves after a plane crash.

Filming for the adaptation of the classic William Golding novel took place in Malaysia.

"My whole acting career changed from supermarket adverts to a massive BBC adaptation," he said.

Bon's talent was first spotted during a chance encounter with a casting agent on the London Underground.

His mother, Danielle Treanor, said: "Ever since he was two years old, if there was a stage he would get on it.

"We were on the Tube one day and he was just chatting away to someone and a lady said 'excuse me, I'm a casting agent and you need to get him an agent because he might get work'.

"I thought, well if you're saying it, then maybe we should do that, so we did and all of a sudden Lord of the Flies came up."

Bon explained that he filmed his audition tape in Valley Gardens in Harrogate.

"It was really hard actually because there was one line that was just really bugging me, there's always one line in every tape that I struggle with," he said.

Danielle admitted they had almost given up but after one last try, they sent it off and "forgot about it".

A call then came inviting Bon to audition in London and after that, he was selected as one of 30 boys cast in the series.

The mother and son said they had been "screaming with excitement" at the news and Bon was the only boy from Yorkshire to be chosen.

They had to put the "brakes on life" and normal routine and travel to Malaysia.

Speaking about the location shoot, Bon said: "We got in a buggy and then got in a van and then got on a speedboat to work.

"There was no surrounding land, it was an island in the middle of nowhere in Malaysia.

"Literally no people were on it so the story was pretty true."

Now the series has been released, Bon said it was "really exciting" to be able to watch episodes.

The novel is based around a leadership struggle between two older boys, Ralph and Jack, with very different moral outlooks who try and take charge of the group. It was published in 1954.

"It's just really crazy to see myself on the big screen," he added.

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