Former Miss Sheffield lands starring role in new Mamma Mia 2 movie

A former Miss Sheffield is set to hit cinema screens this summer after landing a role in smash-hit Abba musical movie Mamma Mia 2.
Actress Kya Garwood.Actress Kya Garwood.
Actress Kya Garwood.

Kya Garwood rubbed shoulders with Hollywood greats such as Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Cher during filming for the long-awaited musical romantic comedy which will land on UK cinema screens in July.

Kya, 43, who has featured in a number of other hit box office movies, spent four months in Croatia working alongside a string of big names for the movie which will be released in July.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Doncaster actress appeared as a stand-in for actresses Lily James and Amanda Seyfried and also features as part of the dance ensemble in one key scene.

She said: "I was lucky enough to be given two scenes - one has not been confirmed for the final edit but I'm part of the dance ensemble in one of the scenes.

Read More
Pfeiffer, Kidman and Mirren - all in a day's work for Doncaster actress Kya Garw...

Kya - who has also appeared in Paddington 2, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Batman movie The Dark Knight, landed a role in the movie - which is expected to become a summer blockbuster - through her industry connections.

She said: "I was called directly by a member of the production who I had recently worked with.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Standing-in on Mamma Mia 2 involved everything from full rehearsal dialogue to choreographed dance routines."

Kya, a body double actress has previously worked with Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman and Helen Mirren on some of the world's glitziest film sets.

The trailer for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again was released last week and sees the cast of the original 2008 movie reunite, with the story set ten years on.

It is scheduled to be released in the United States and UK on July 20 - ten years to the month of the original film's release.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A former Miss Sheffield, Kya, who originally went by the name Julie Ann Melvin, kicked off her glittering showbiz career when she worked alongside Batman’s Catwoman star Michelle Pfeiffer on 2007 movie I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Kya said: “When I was 18, I came to London to study drama but ended up getting homesick so I came back up north. I ended up winning the Miss Sheffield beauty pageant and got a job working at Sheffield United as a matchday hostess.

“But after a while, I got itchy feet again and headed back to London and decided to go for it.”

She signed up with an agency and began body doubling - standing in for big name stars in movies and TV - in 2005 and has never looked back.

She has also starred in smash hit ITV show Mr Selfridge and EastEnders.