Francesca Hayward: Meet the ballerina playing Victoria in the ‘Cats’ the movie

19 December 2019, 13:26 | Updated: 19 December 2019, 13:31

By Rosie Pentreath

The ‘Cats’ remake has come out in cinemas (to mixed reviews...). And a new face takes centre stage playing Victoria, alongside Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, James Corden et al.

Amidst a cast of literally scores of famous faces in the live-action remake of Cats, there’s one that’s less familiar.

Appearing next to the likes of Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Idris Elba, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden is Royal Ballet dancer, Francesca Hayward.

Francesca is playing Victoria the White Cat, the principal dancer in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Francesca Hayward plays Victoria in Cats (2019) live-action remake. Picture: Universal

Who is Francesca Hayward, who plays Victoria in the Cats live action remake?

Francesca Hayward is an English ballet dancer. Most recently, she has held the position of Principal at The Royal Ballet in London, and she joined the company back in 2010.

She studied at The Royal Ballet School prior to that and, according to her IMDB biography, was inspired to become a ballerina when she watched a video of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the age of two.

Hayward’s Royal Opera House biography cites an impressive array of awards, including the Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance and the accolade of 2010 Young British Dancer of the Year.

The ballerina recently told Classic FM: “I took a few months off to film Cats, so I definitely feel like I need to be at the Royal Opera House for a while just cementing myself back there again. But I’m definitely open to loads more opportunities now.”

Who else is in the cast of the Cats live action remake?

Ballet dancer Francesca Hayward is in the remake of Cats with Taylor Swift (Bombalurina), James Corden (Bustopher Jones), Dame Judi Dench (Old Deuteronomy), Sir Ian McKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Idris Elba (Macavity), Jennifer Hudson (Grizabella), Ray Winstone (Growltiger), Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots) and singer Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger).