It must be surreal for any child actor when people discover that they've starred in a famous film – but what about when that happens every year without fail? Miffy Englefield, who plays Jude Law’s daughter Sophie in The Holiday, knows the feeling.
It may have been 17 years since she starred in the 2006 festive favourite, but it’s popularity hasn't abated. The Holiday is in the top ten highest grossing Christmas films of all time and people merrily watch it every December on repeat. No one can turn Graham into a one syllable name like Cameron Diaz or pull of a deep mid-winter tan like Jude Law, and everyone wishes they grew up with a patchwork tent in their bedroom like Sophie and Olivia’s.
While the film was being made, Englefield was only six years old. She remembers joking around with Jude Law, doing her homework on set with her on-screen sister Emma Pritchard and having her make-up touched up next to Cameron Diaz. Now she’s a 24-year-old actor and TikTok star with a three-year-old daughter. Times have changed!
‘The way I’ve always described it is surreal,' says Englefield. 'It still feels like a fever dream to this day. I came from a council estate at the age of six to being on a film set with insanely talented actors.
‘I wasn’t quite aware of who they were at the time, for me it was just another excuse to be loud and put on a performance. As I grew up and realised who these actors were, that’s when I felt a bit overwhelmed by it.’
For most six-year-olds, these memories might have faded with time, but Englefield is forced to relive them every year whether she likes it or not – and luckily she does.
‘When I was in my teenage years, I was the target of a lot of jokes. When you’re that age, nothing is cool. People didn’t think it was cool. I didn’t think it was cool,’ the actor explains. ‘Now I’m in my 20s and I’ve got my own kid it’s quite fun to reminisce. I don’t get as many of the jokes anymore!’
Fortunately, the 17 years that have passed between the girl who played Sophie and the woman she is today have helped grant Englefield a degree of anonymity. You're unlikely to see her now, with tattoos wearing a black leather jacket, and immediately think of the little girl in the twee pink cardigan begging Jude Law to do Mr Napkinhead.
That is except for on one occasion when she was pregnant with her daughter at a hospital appointment. ‘The nurse came in and was like, “you look really familiar,” and we had this back and forth. She said, “this is going to sound really weird, but are you in The Holiday?” And I was like, how do you know that!’
But now, over on TikTok, Englefield has used her child stardom to build a following on the platform – something that enabled her to live out her very own The Holiday experience by partnering with Home Exchange. Englefield recently swapped houses with a family near Hastings in East Sussex – in a similar way to Cameron Diaz’s character Amanda and Kate Winslet’s character Iris in the film. ‘Being in the film, and the whole premise of the film, it never occurred to me that home exchange was a real thing that people could go and do. In my head it was a beautiful Nancy Meyers plot.'
‘But then they reached out and offered me the experience to go and do it like they do in the film, and it works so well in real life. It was one of our favourite experiences as a family; we wanted to experience that middle of nowhere little house,' she adds. 'My daughter still asks about the home we stayed in and the cats we looked after.’
There’s no doubt that Englefield has learnt to embrace all the festive opportunities and nostalgia that The Holiday brings each Christmas, even if she rarely watches the film herself. ‘My daughter's three now so she’s coming up to that age of really appreciating Christmas. She’s obsessed with The Grinch, I think it’s fantastic. And Elf obviously! The Holiday not so much.’
She also reveals that her daughter has cottoned on to her claim to fame and has been shown a few of Sophie and Olivia's iconic scenes by a family friend – much to her embarrassment. ‘It’s like when you mum brings out baby photos for a new partner and you’re like god no let’s put these away, that’s how I feel about watching it.’
‘My daughter walks around the house doing an American accent 90 per cent of the time,' Englefield explains when asked if she'd ever want her daughter to follow in her footsteps. 'I was about her age when I started getting into acting and I don’t think I’d do it this young. But it’s completely up to her, if one day she’d like to experience it then of course I'd support her.’ We'll make sure to get the hot chocolate and marshmallows ready if she does...
Miffy has partnered with leading home-swapping platform HomeExchange to offer solo travellers the unique chance to win a Cameron Diaz inspired Solo Holiday Party Pack as seen in the classic Christmas film The Holiday. For more information head to https://www.homeexchange.com/p/holiday_for_one