ONE Bolton boy has seen a dream come true after appearing in a national advert. 

Ellis Hilton, from Darcy Lever, filmed “A Car Right Up Your Street”, a commercial for Gumtree, earlier this year. 

The 12-year-old spent four hours on the set in Wales to make sure that everything was set to create the 30 second video. 

Proud mum Toni said: “He used to sit and watch TV with me and would constantly ask ‘how did that kid get on TV?’ and after a few times of saying that he wanted to do that we looked into acting classes. 

“Ellis started drama classes two years ago, he used to go to the class every Tuesday, and his agent has got him all kinds of work. 

“He did a short film in September 2018 where he was cast as a main part – it was quite a big one because he shaved all of his hair off.” 

The Thornleigh Salesian College pupil has been cast in a variety of small parts by agent Lauren Warwick, of Warwick Management. 

Ellis’ first role saw him play Waspy, an underprivileged child in a gritty film about two friends who find a bird’s nest in the woods. 

Allan and Waspy sees the boys’ friendship threatened by violence and tragedy, as their troubles grow alongside the discovered chicks.

Filming for the seven minute piece took place on Ellis’ 11th birthday.

The project is a world away from this advert, but the casting director knew instantly that Ellis was the right man for the job. 

Ms Hilton said: “We went for the audition and she knew straight away that she wanted him, he was just perfect for what she wanted. 

“We went to Wales the week after, got the train down and stayed overnight, and he spent four hours getting on and off the wall and reading his parts in different ways to make sure they had everything. 

“I’m so proud of him, if he wants to do something he will do it.” 

The advert was produced by Fold7, an agency based in London. 

Filming took place in February, with the finished video aired across the nation on March 13. 

The air-date was a big moment for the Hilton family, with Ellis and Toni desperately trying to catch the clip on TV. 

Toni added: “We were waiting to see it on TV and we kept missing it on the first day. 

“It’d been uploaded to YouTube so we’d seen it but we really wanted to see it on TV so he asked me to let him know if I spotted it. 

“When I saw it I was frantically calling him ‘it’s on, it’s on’ and we were ringing his nana to tell her too. 

“We rang her to say we’d seen it on Channel Four and she said ‘I know, I’ve seen it about four times already’.”

Ellis is very excited about his appearances, and has always been keen to see the final product of his hard work. 

Although Allan and Waspy was played at various film festivals, this is the first time the youngster has starred in something broadcast to the nation. 

Toni joked: “He’s not had the chance to go to school to sign autographs yet because he was off ill after it aired and then lockdown started.

“He’s quite made up to be cast in it. He’s been rubbing it in his siblings’ faces that he’s on TV.

“He just loves it, he loves being on camera and then waiting to see the finished product.”