A young woman from Cornwall has seen a dream come true after joining the cast of a new TV series reboot alongside well-known actors.

Alanah Bloor, 25, from the Helston area, has been given the leading role in the new upcoming series Sandokan alongside award-winning actor Ed Westwick, John Hannah and Turkish star Can Yaman.

Variety website explains that Sandokan is set in the mid-19th century on the island of Borneo. Alanah will play the part of Marianne, the daughter of the British consul who elopes with Sandokan (Can Yaman).

Lord James Brooke, played by Gossip Girl actor Ed Westwick, will be hot on their trail to try to win Marianne’s heart.

This is Alanah’s first big break into the industry after appearing in numerous productions from a young age including at the legendary Minnack Theatre.

Her love for acting began when she was a pupil at Constantine Primary School. Alanah attended drama club and performed in the school's production of ‘Oliver’.

When she moved up to Helston Community College, Alanah was well supported by her drama teachers Steph Richardson and Ben Oldfield.

After completing her GCSEs and A Levels in drama, Alanah was given a place at East 15 Drama School in Essex before moving on to The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) graduating in 2023.

Falmouth Packet: Alanah playing Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View at the Minack in 2022Alanah playing Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View at the Minack in 2022 (Image: Lynn Batten)

Alanah’s parents Gavin and Caroline Bloor, who are both teachers at Helston Community College, said they are so “overwhelmingly proud” of their daughter.

“She is such a kind and beautiful young woman,” explained Caroline. “She has had to be resilient and determined, lots of people have said acting is hard to get into, but she wasn’t put off.

“We’re so overwhelmingly proud of her, not just because of this, but because she is a lovely and beautiful person. She’s a local girl done good.”

Caroline continued: “We’re blown away by the support she had, always supportive of her dreams.”

Now that Alanah is filming for the series in Rome, Caroline explained that her daughter “loves coming back to Cornwall” and is very much a “Cornish girl.”

“She has been talking to her fellow actors about Cornwall. They were particularly intrigued by local traditions, especially Helston Flora Day,” added Caroline.