Hollywood newcomer Dakota Blue Richards suffered from crippling bouts of homesickness on the set of her new film The Golden Compass.

The 13-year-old actress - who beat off competition from more than 10,000 other hopefuls to secure a place alongside Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig in the $180 million (£90 million) movie - missed school and her friends back home in Sussex, England, terribly during filming - despite the fact it was shot in the U.K.

She says, "Being the only child for long periods can get lonely. Also, it's harder to engage with the school work because you never know how long you're going to be away from filming - half an hour or three hours - so you don't know how far to go.

"One minute you're screaming and fighting with someone, while the next you're doing maths. It's very confusing." (CG/WNBTE/TN)

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