Who Is Francesca Hayward, Ballet Dancer In Much-Mocked ‘Cats’ Trailer?

The new trailer for the film Cats was released Thursday – and there is one character that appears for most of the video that went viral on the web last week.

That character is Victoria, a shy white kitten played by Francesca Hayward.

Hayward is a Royal Ballet dancer, who said that shooting the film has been a “whirlwind journey,” in a promotional video posted on her Instagram account.

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“I’ve always just done ballet, and I feel like I’m sort of living the dream,” Hayward said. “It’s just very surreal for someone who doesn’t sing in public to suddenly be singing with Jennifer Hudson.”

Hayward was born near Nairobi to a Kenyan mother and British father. She moved to England at the age of 2 and began her training with London’s prestigious Royal Ballet school at 10. She was promoted to principal dancer in 2016 after dancing in roles including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Clara in The Nutcracker.

Hayward performed in L.A. this month in the Royal Ballet’s production of Mayerling and The Dante Project.

Cats is set to release on December 20.