Schoolgirl Rachel Hurd-Wood is set for movie stardom when Peter Pan – billed as this Christmas’s big family film – opens in cinemas worldwide this month.

The 13-year-old was picked from thousands of hopefuls to play Wendy Darling in the film, based on JM Barrie’s classic story about the boy who refused to grow up.

“One minute I’m walking across the playground to maths, the next I’m flying out to Hollywood to meet the world’s press. It’s a dream come true,” said Rachel.

QUESTION: So is there an exciting story behind how you got to be cast as Wendy?

RHW: My grandparents heard about it on the television and told my mom. One day when I came home from school, she measured me to see if I was within the height restrictions, without telling me what she was doing. I was confused as to why she was doing that. Then she told me that I was within the height restrictions and I got really excited and I thought, “I’d love to do an audition.”

QUESTION: How tough was the audition process?

A teenager plucked from obscurity to appear in the new Peter Pan film has said she is still shocked at her luck.

Rachel Hurd-Wood, 13, from Godalming in Surrey, beat hundreds of other hopefuls to play Wendy in the £65m film, which stars Jeremy Sumpter as the boy hero.

“I was so lucky to get this part and the experience was just amazing,” Hurd said at the London premiere on Tuesday night.

Her only acting experience before the film had been in a school play.

According to Director P.J. Hogan, 14-year-old Jeremy Sumpter didn’t so much walk into his audition for Peter Pan as swagger in like a young Errol Flynn. Producer Lucy Fisher gave audition tapes to her young daughters who picked Jeremy hands down! Bad guy Jason Isaacs (he was the bad British Captain who killed Heath Ledger in The Patriot) plays a very hot, menacing Captain Hook in the film. He also plays a very mousy Mr. Darling, Wendy’s dad. When we interviewed the cast of the new Peter Pan recently, we learned that Jason is funny, warm and fuzzy with the kids in real life and tells some great stories. He and Jeremy seem more like a cool uncle and his nephew than life or death adversaries. Jason helped moderate the panel, encouraging young actors Jeremy and 13-year-old first-timer Rachel Hurd-Wood, who plays Wendy, to tell the press all about the filming of the movie and off-set fun.

There’s a fair chance you haven’t heard of Rachel Hurd-Wood, given that, as she says in our interview, “This is my first movie, this is my first acting really I’ve ever done.” So for that reason, today we would like to introduce you to the young lady who plays Wendy – or, to be more precise, Wendy Moira Angela Darling – in P.J. Hogan’s adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

While filming Peter Pan and having to subsequently keep quiet about the secrets of this new version, she is nowadays most excited to talk about her remarkable experiences since she was cast.