SEARCHING through the skirts, trousers, dresses and tops in my wardrobe, I just couldn't find a thing to wear.
Hanging on the rails were plenty of outfits perfect for a normal day at the office.

But this wasn't just an ordinary day.
This was my big chance to break into the world of showbusiness and appear up on the silver screen.

Like thousands of others, I went along to Burghley Park, near Stamford, in the hope of being picked as an extra for the multi-million pound film adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
Since my stage debut at the age of four with a blue and white tea-towel on my head as the Virgin Mary in my reception class nativity play, I have always dreamed of being a star.

So I wasn't going to miss the chance to rub shoulders with A-list celebrities like Keira Knightley, Donald Sutherland and Dame Judi Dench.
But what should I wear to impress the casting director?

My wardrobe was rather lacking in corsets and long flowing dresses!
In the end, I decided that practising my smile would be far more constructive as it was my face that needed to fit, not my dress sense. I don't think any self-respecting lady in the 18th century wore A-line skirts, boob tubes or pink kitten heels.

We were told the auditions started at 11am, so photographer Andy Laithwaite and I decided to go along early to avoid the queues.
But as we drove into the park at 9.30am, there was already a snake of people winding its way across the stately home's impressive grounds.

At the front of the queue was mum-of-two Jayne Benning (39) and her 12-year-old daughter Ella-Louise.
Jayne, a fund-raiser for the National Children's Home charity, said she had decided to arrive early to miss the crowds and had arrived at 7am.

Jayne, of Kingfishers, Orton Wistow, Peterborough, said: "I read about the auditions in The Evening Telegraph and Ella is interested in acting, so we decided to come down.
"It's not the first time Ella has been to one of these casting sessions. Last year she went to Manchester to audition for the BBC Talent production of The Little Prince. Unfortunately, she wasn't successful, but there were thousands of people there.

"I think this is a brilliant opportunity for local people."
Ella-Louise, a pupil at Bushfield School in the Orton Centre said: "I want to be an actress when I leave school. My dream would be to get a part in EastEnders."

Next in the queue were A-level students Alice Bone (18) and Karl Douse (18).
They arrived at 8am.

Alice, of Church Walk, Marholm, near Peterborough, said: "I studied drama for GCSE and would have liked to have continued it for A-level, but unfortunately our school only ran performing arts A-level courses and I wasn't interested in music."

Alice, who is currently on a gap year before going off to study fashion at Bath University, said she thought Burghley House was the perfect setting for the film version of the period.
She added: "This is the first time I have ever been to any sort of audition and it's a bit scary, but I really hope I am chosen. I am a bit worried my hair isn't long enough because they asked for people with long hair and I had mine cut a couple of weeks ago."

Karl, of St Pegas Road, Peakirk, near Peterborough, who will soon be starting an engineering apprenticeship with Perkins, said: "I have never studied drama or done anything like this before, but Alice dragged me along and I thought it would be a laugh."
As I rejoined my place at the back, hundreds more people had arrived.

Families with young children in buggies, groups of schoolchildren, brothers and sisters, and pensioners all stood neatly in line waiting for their chance to shine.
Before long we were handed two forms, one to fill in our name, address telephone number and vital statistics, and another with information about the casting.

Tape measures were also passed along the queue as the women measured their height, waist, hips, and bust and the men took their chest and inside leg measurements.
We were then told to write our name on the back of the form in block capitals to hold up when we had our photograph taken.

Twenty minutes later I reached the front of the queue.
Holding up my name I pulled my biggest, cheesiest grin and trying to look seductive, sultry, deep, and thoughtful in a single pose.

But I couldn't help feeling more like a crime suspect posing for a mug-shot rather than a wannabe star hoping for a fleeting appearance in next year's blockbuster movie.
Candy Marlowe, one of the film's assistant directors, was the women behind the camera.
As she pressed the shutter she told me: "You've got a great look."

She probably said it to everyone, but as I walked away I was filled with pride.
Watch this space, I could soon be coming to a cinema near you.

Town waves goodbye to creature comforts

ANOTHER sprinkling of movie magic dusted Stamford today, as the town began its transformation into 18th century Jane Austen country.
Stamford Arts Centre, on St Mary's Street, Stamford, is the first building to get a 1790s makeover and any hint of the 21st century will also be removed from nearby St George's Square.

Production crews are turning the area into 'Meryton', the fictitious Hertfordshire village where the film's heroine Elizabeth Bennet, played in the film by Keira Knightley, lived.

Adam Richards, location manager for Working Title Films is in charge of creating the sets.
He said: "We will be spending about a month getting the streets ready for filming.

"We will be building a covered walk way around the side of the arts Ccentre, and the front of it will become a milliners shop.
"Street signs, lamp-posts, double yellow lines and power cables on St Mary's Street and nearby St George's Square will all be covered up or taken down."

Lincolnshire police are warning motorists there will be delays through the town while the sets are built, with traffic restricted to one lane.
Lee Thompson from Lincolnshire police said: "Due to the likely delays to traffic, motorists are advised to avoid the area if at all possible to reduce congestion."

Audition attracts thousands of hopefuls

WHEN Jackie Davies and Kim Laffey found out they were going to be living in the middle of a film set they decided to audition for a part.
So the two women from St George's Square, in Stamford, and Jackie's sister, Pauline Mackey, decided to go along to the auditions in Burghley Park, near Stamford, to find 400 extras for the film adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Mum-of-one Jackie also took along a photograph of her 21-year-old son Gareth.
She said: "He is currently studying for a masters degree in chemical engineering and is coming to the end of his year out working in industry. He'll be back home in a couple of weeks and so I thought I'd put him forward because like all students I'm sure he'd be glad of the money."

Kim added: "They are filming in the square, so our lives are going to be disrupted anyway so we thought we might as well come and see if we could get a part in it."
Great grandmother Lana Wells (68), of St George's Square, was also among the hopefuls.

She said: "We were told our television aerial has to be taken down while the filming is going on, so I thought seeing as we are in the middle of a film set I may as well join in."
Working Title, the production company behind the movie, is looking for people to take part in a town and a party scene.

Assitant director Candy Marlowe said: "We are looking for people of all shapes, shapes and sizes from children to the elderly. We are also need soldiers and have been speaking to some boys from Stamford School who are members of the Army Cadet force and would look good in our uniforms.

"We need people for a general town scene and a party scene.
"For that, the women would get to wear really feminine empire line dresses.
"We will be calling some people as early as next week, but others may not hear for about three weeks.

"Filming will take place between August 30 and September 7.
"The finished film will then be on in cinemas next year, but I'm not sure of the actual release date yet."

Scaffolder Wayne Rauchfleisch (28), of College Close, Great Casterton, said he'd never acted before, but fancied a new experience.
And 11-year-old dancer Kizzie Burkett, who has appeared in pantomime at The Cresset four times, also fancied making her acting debut.

But Tom Needham (66), of Mendip Grove, Gunthorpe, Peterborough, and Jeanette Dolby (73), of South View, Fletton, Peterborough, both have lots of acting experience as members of Peterborough Operatic and Dramatic Society (Pods).
They went along with Tom's friend Harry Freeman (64), of Malvern Road, Gunthorpe, Peterborough, and his sister Alma Ogle (67), from Stamford.

Great-grandmother of fourJeanette said: "I think Burghley is a beautiful building and a beautiful setting for a film. To make use of it like this is great."

'A honour to be chosen as the set'

IT is not the first time Stamford's historic buildings have been used as films sets.
In 1994, BBC film crews transformed St Mary's Street and St George's Square into the set of George Elliot's Middlemarch, starring Robert Hardy.

Graham Burley, manager at Stamford Arts Centre, said far from disrupting the venue's bookings, the filming was attracting lots of interest.
Mr Burley said: "We are all really looking forward to it, and feel it is a honour our building was chosen to become famous.

"The staff are very excited about the chance of maybe bumping into a film star or too when the filming starts."