A TALENTED actress from Suffolk is preparing for a new life in Hollywood after signing with a top management agency.

Earlier this year Amy Pemberton took to the stage in hit West End musical Rock of Ages and has recently appeared in feature film Storage alongside BAFTA-winning actor/director Noel Clarke, while she has also been busy recording popular Dr Who audio books.

Now in a bid to break into the movie business, she is heading to Los Angeles in January after being snapped up by Untitled Entertainment, which looks after stars including Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan and Blake Lively.

But Amy, who has previously appeared in musicals Footloose and Jersey Boys, will be keeping in close contact with her friends and family in Suffolk – especially after being named as a patron of the charity Headway recently.

Amy’s father Keith spent time at the Bury St Edmunds Headway base after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. He passed away in 2009 and Amy has since raised more than �10,000 and is a keen supporter of the charity.

She said: “I’m carrying on the good work by supporting them and I was honoured to be asked to be a patron. I know dad would be so proud.”

Dave Taylor, general manager of West Suffolk Headway, said everyone was very grateful for all Amy’s fundraising efforts over the last few years and he was confident she would be a hit in the USA.

He said: “We’re really grateful that she agreed to be our patron and hope she will be able to come back and see us when she can.”

Before making a permanent move to LA in January, Amy is heading to Chicago later this month for a Dr Who convention.

“Dr Who is huge in the States,” she said. “I didn’t realise how massive it is. We’ve got over 2,500 people coming on the first day alone.”

The former Bacton Middle and Stowupland High School pupil also has two completed films in the pipeline and is hoping for success in the highly-competitive pilot season in the USA.

She added: “I have loved that I can mix things up with stage, screen and doing audio recordings, but there comes a point when you have to concentrate with one thing and that’s filming. It’s a bigger place [LA] and there’s a lot more going on there than here at the moment.”