AT just 14-years-old, Gianluca Gallucci is proving to be a versatile actor, moving from small to big screen.

The Keighley teenager already stars in CBBC’s hit show Creeped Out and now he’s in the young cast in coming-of-age film Pond Life (15), released this week.

Filmed on location in Maltby, South Yorkshire, the comedy stars Siobhan Finneran, whose TV hits include Downton Abbey, Happy Valley and Benidorm, Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street and more recently starred in Broadchurch, and Game of Thrones actor Tom Varey.

Set in the quiet mining village of Edlington near Doncaster, in the summer of 1994, Pond Life is about the ties that bind broken families. When rumours circulate that there’s a giant carp called Nessie in nearby decoy ponds, teenage Trevor takes watch one night, sitting at the water’s edge, waiting patiently for the fish to surface. The following night, he takes a group of friends along for an eventful fishing expedition.

Meanwhile, young lovers Maurice and Cassie steal kisses in the reeds and Pogo gallivants around the estate, capturing excerpts of everyday life on her cassette recorder. As the temperature rises, hormones rage and young scamps Shane, played by Gianluca, and Dave terrorise local shopkeepers on shoplifting rampages.

The debut film by theatre director Bill Buckhurst has an original score composed by Richard Hawley and has been compared to the work of directors Ken Loach and Shane Meadows.

Gianluca plays Shane, a misfit who finds himself on a quest for the elusive carp. “Shane is always looking for adventure and getting into trouble,” he said. “He likes to mess around with his friend, Dave. In one of the scenes me and Ethan Wilkie (Dave) were at a coal mine and were left with vague instructions to have fun so we just went to town, running about, having fun and throwing stones.”

Gianluca is a pupil at Articulate Speech, Drama and Casting which has drama schools across the region, including Baildon.

He added: “All the cast and crew on Pond Life were really funny and kind, even the really famous ones. I think my most starstruck moment was when I had lunch with Julie Hesmondhalgh, who was the loveliest person ever.”

Gianluca has been acting for most of his young life. His mum, Lidia Gallucci, said: “Mrs Valentine, his nursery teacher, offered to eat her own hat if she never saw him on stage.

“We would like to thank Articulate and all its teachers for nurturing Gianluca and believing in him, bringing out the best in him, and also Holy Family School in Keighley for all their support in allowing Gianluca to follow his dream, while at the same time providing him with his education.”

Stacey Burrows, principal at Articulate Speech, Drama and Casting, said: “We are all so proud of Gianluca. He has such a wide range of acting skills and has come so far in the last three years.

“His talent is growing every day, and his ability to memorise vast amounts of script and direction is exceptional.

“It’s been a long wait from initially receiving the ‘phone call offering Gianluca the part to seeing the finished result, and we’re all very excited to see him now on the cinema screen.”