Although Romina Hytten is just 18, her acting career has already taken her to extraordinary heights – several hundred metres up in a glider, in fact.

Romina, who was inspired to act as a career after joining Chichester Youth Theatre, stars in the new film A Dark Reflection, an investigative thriller about the aviation industry.

Director Tristan Loraine is a former air captain who was forced to retire from aviation on medical grounds, and now campaigns for research into air quality on airplanes, and the possibility of toxic engine fumes entering the cabin.

The film follows a reporter on the fictional Sussex Standard newspaper who stumbles upon a disturbing conspiracy to cover up a major safety issue. It was shot at locations around West and East Sussex, including Shoreham Airport, Bluebell Railway and Southdown Gliding Club in Storrington.

Romina, from Storrington, plays Molly Adamson, the daughter of an airline pilot who is interviewed by the local paper. Romina explains, “As part of the interview, I get a flight in a glider and the reporter meets my father – I’m a sort of linking character.”

She has wanted to act since she was a child, but joining Chichester Youth Theatre when she was in Year 7 compelled her to pursue it as a career.

She says, “Joining the youth theatre group was a big moment. That was my first taste of a professional production, and the shows there are big too, so we were working with a professional crew.”

Since then she has had a number of roles with the company, notably playing Lucy Pevensie in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Missis Pongo in 101 Dalmations.

She says, “Those roles were probably my favourites, as they were main roles and they were challenging to act.”

“l like challenging roles!” she adds.

The chance to audition for A Dark Reflection came unexpectedly, Romina says. “I got involved by chance”, she explains. “There was a careers fair at Farlington School. I already knew I wanted to be an actress, so I wasn’t planning to go, but my friend suggested I went to get the freebies – rubbers and pens and things.

“I went along right at the end and met Tristan Loraine. When I told him that I wanted to be an actress, he asked me to email him my CV and he would see about getting me an audition. It was completely out of the blue!”

The glider flight, under the guidance of professional pilot Guy Westgate, was an unforgettable experience, Romina says. “I got to do some really cool aerobatics with a world-class glider pilot. We had a helicopter filming us at one point, and we were doing loops and rolls. It was amazing!

“I’ve never been in a glider before, and the director said that he was really shocked at how well I did. He didn’t tell me beforehand, but he expected me to step out of the plane looking quite green! It was really fun, and so quiet up in the air. I didn’t expect it to be so quiet.”

Following her film debut, Romina has been taking a break from acting to focus on her education. She is currently studying towards her A-Levels at Bishop Luffa 6th Form College and plans to take a gap year and audition for drama schools.

Romina has big hopes for her acting career, and thinks her loyalty lies in the theatre.

“I love stage and film,” she says, “but I think at the moment theatre is my preference. The adrenalin of getting on stage is quite intense and it feels more real than film, although I know I’ve only had a small taste of film acting.”

n A Dark Reflection (15) will be available on DVD this summer.