For Christmas, Annie gets a family in a home full of love and riches. But what does Quvenzhane Wallis want for herself?
Like any other 11-year-old, “A lot of things,” the young Oscar nominee told London Evening Standard. She continued, “Like there’s this sew kit and you just sew what you want. And there’s these things called Beadies, and there’s another thing and it’s, like, sand and you, like, can pick it up and, like, form different stuff. I’m gonna start making a list.”
Getting together for a normal family Christmas will be just the holiday Quvenzhane needs. Lately, she has been very busy filming and prepping for the release of the holiday classic remake, Annie. The New Orleans native spent three months on location in New York shooting the film. She refers to the shoot as one big sleepover, with Cameron Diaz (who holds the role of mean ol’ Ms. Hannigan) acting as a second mother to her. Her schooling continued on-set with tutors always nearby.
When asked if she ever tires of all the travelling, living out of fancy hotels, giving interviews and doing photoshoots, she answers “oh yesss.” Even so, Quvenzhane is not only happy with her career choice, but is grateful for it. “I like everything I have. And I’m not going to be that snob that’s like [she adopts an affected starlet voice], ‘I hate everything, like, everything'”. She pointed out that if she had said no the day her mother asked her if she’d like to audition for Beasts of the Southern Wild everything would be different. “You probably wouldn’t even know me; you probably wouldn’t be speaking to me and I probably wouldn’t be in New York. So I’m so glad that I said yes.”
That first role in the dystopian drama got Quvenzhane worldwide recognition. Her talent was unquestionable.
William Gluck, writer and director of Annie said that the most impressive thing about this little star is her face. “It’s just so expressive — she can show so many emotions without saying a word. When I was writing Annie, I kept that in mind.”
The film opens everywhere December 19.
