Surprise winner of Best Picture Oscar stars daughter of Blackpool Tower Circus performer and Opera House actor

CODA, a coming-of-age family drama by Sian Heder, triumphed over nine big-budget productions such as Dune, Don’t Look Up, Belfast, and Licorice Pizza at the annual awards ceremony on Sunday.

The film, created on a shoestring budget of just $10m, stars Emilia Jones as Ruby, the titluar ‘CODA’ (child of deaf adults), who works for her family’s struggling fishing business while dreaming of a life as a singer.

READ: Films running for ‘best picture’ at the Oscars must be diverse

Emilia is the daughter of Welsh singer and television presenter Aled Jones and former Blackpool Tower Circus performer Claire Fossett, who met when Aled was starring in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on a 20-week run at the Winter Gardens.

Her grandmother Elaine Fossett, a former Blackpool South Rotarian who now lives in Haworth, West Yorkshire, said: “It’s such a wonderful film; it makes you laugh and cry, and feel that somehting has changed in your life when you’ve watched it. It’s quite remarkable.

"We never believed it would win Best Picture. It was filmed in nine months on such a tiny budget. We couldn’t believe that this small indie film was going to challenge some of the amazing films that were nominated. It was almost like a miracle. These things don’t happen except in fairy stories. Emilia was ecstatic.”

Emilia, who lives in Barnes, was just 17 during the filming of CODA, and was also filming for Netflix fantasy series Locke and Key at the time.

Elaine said: “It was a very intense nine months She had to learn sign language. She’d never had a singing lesson; she had a good voice but it had never been used. She was working all week on Locke and Key, and on weekends she grafted over sign language and singing.

"She’s always been passionate about acting, from being a tiny toddler. Acting has always been her first love.

"However passionate she was, I don’t think she would have been able to have followed it to the level she has, had she not had my daughter (Claire) and myself as chaperones for her, because she’s very attached to her family. She’s very lucky in the way she has had that support behind her, because not all families are able to give that time.

"My daughter grew up in the circus, the circus was very much a part of her childhood, and I’ve worked in theatre for most of my life. So to see my granddaughter share that passion is wonderful.

"Throughout her time growing up, I was living in Blackpool and we often went to the circus, and I had to spend many hours ‘playing Mooky’. She would obviously be Mooky, while I had to be whatever other character was in the ring. She would remember all the words, and I would get into such trouble if I couldn’t remember them!

"I don’t think there are enough words to describe how I feel. It’s just incredible. If I had just won £20m on the lottery I would not feel better!”

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