Fish Tank

Katie Jarvis – from the school steps to the red carpet

At the tender age of 16, Jarvis found herself unemployed until she was presented with an opportunity as the lead role in Andrea Arnold's new film, Fish Tank.

Her life wasn't looking too glamorous at the time leading up to the opportunity;  her mother was nagging her continuously to get a job since leaving school. On the day she was approached by the casting agent, she had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend at a train station. She then got a train where a woman approached her with an opportunity to be a lead actress when she got

"I really didn't believe it, to be honest," Jarvis says and was quite hesitant and only accepted the woman's number and informed her that she'd get in touch but she then later got in touch with the woman. She auditioned 3 times and then landed the role of Mia, 15 in Fish Tank.

As stated by the article, the character of Mia ' presents a disturbing picture of dispossessed youth'. She doesn't have a good relationship with her mum or her younger sister. Her mum then brings home a new lover, and perhaps to a lack of a father figure craves affection from him and begins to spend a lot of time with him.

The similarity between the actress Jarvis and the character of Mia is that they're both from Essex. Jarvis is polite and quite nervous whereas Mia is scruffy, loud-mouthed and a trouble maker. 

Had the actress not have gotten pregnant, she probably would've carried on acting, but her focus is her child and her relationship with her boyfriend which has drastically improved as they've both matured.