Disney: Buckinghamshire teenager Georgia Lock becomes the modern face of the entertainment corps

Once they were known as the Mouseketeers, the stars of the most exclusive children’s gang, the Mickey Mouse Club, which ran for 40 years and numbered Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling among its members.

Today’s standard bearer for the Disney brand – typified by the Home Counties teenager Georgia Lock – follows a different career path, but one that is no less carefully managed by the most famous name in children’s entertainment.

In her short time as an actress and presenter, Lock, 19, has had a starring role in Evermoor, Disney’s first feature series to be shot in Britain, and is hosting a children’s cookery show with Michel Roux Jr.

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She has become a face for the Disney channel in the UK, appearing on the red carpet at London premieres of Disney films, interviewing Cinderella star Lily James, and reporting from Los Angeles when the company stages its awards ceremonies.

Her success is an indication of Disney’s desire for deeper relationships with local markets as it strengthens its position as a global media business. Previous generations grew up with Annette Funicello, Britney Spears or Demi Lovato as all-American figureheads for the House of Mouse. But children in the UK and other overseas territories can now look to someone who speaks more like them.

“I still can’t believe it, to be honest,” says Lock. “I live in the country in Buckinghamshire and no one in my family acts. I never imagined I would end up working for Disney.”

She is on good terms with David Levine, who heads production for Disney channels in the UK and Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), and recently appeared on stage at a company event to communicate the essence of the channel to potential Disney advertisers. He says: “Georgia is very versatile and talented. She can do scripted and non-scripted [television], she has been a presenter for us, she has interviewed movie stars and appeared at fashion exhibitions.”

If Lock has a problem with her career progression, or indeed any other issue, she can turn to Disney’s UK talent manager, Brina Grossman. “She’s so funny and you can call her with anything,” Lock says. “Even problems unrelated to work I call Brina with. She’s so nurturing.”

Lock didn’t attend drama school, but being so closely aligned with a media giant has brought opportunities to develop both as an actor and presenter. “Disney don’t even feel like an employer. It’s such a lovely atmosphere they create,” she says. “They really like to grow their talent and I’m so grateful for the opportunities they have given me so far.”

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When Lock’s friends were getting ready for school earlier this autumn, she was in Wales filming Evermoor, which opened last year as a mini-series. It has been commissioned for a new 20-part series that begins on 9 November and will be shown in more than 100 territories. Lock plays fashion-conscious teen Bella in the drama about an American girl (Naomi Sequeira) who finds herself transported to rural England and a world of stately homes and magic tapestries. “It’s the first live action series Disney have made in the UK,” Lock says. “I never expected to work for Disney Channel because I thought everything was in America.”

Levine says: “We consider ourselves a global brand with local touch points and there is nothing more compelling to a young viewer than to see a kid just like them on TV – so we look for local talent that are aspirational but relatable.”

Lock’s first experience of the company was as a five-year-old visiting Disneyland Paris. She began drama classes in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, at her mother’s behest because she was “very shy” at school. “She thought I should do drama because I was such a timid soul.”

Her TV break came in CBBC’s Sadie J, where she played a 13-year-old billed in casting as having “the sass of Cheryl Cole and the punch of a prize fighter”.

As well as Evermoor, Disney has given her the chance to present First Class Chefs, a show made by Jamie Oliver’s Fresh One, in which primary school children compete to prepare the best meals.

Although she says her acting commitments meant “I just missed all my exams”, she is confident she is doing the right thing. “Disney is not just supporting you while you are working for them on a particular job, they are always there in the in-between stages,” she says. “There’s someone I can call if I want advice or recommendations of classes I can take or people I can meet. I don’t think you’d find that in another company.”