Quvenzhané Wallis is a tween with the sort of indomitable spirit it takes to make it in Hollywood: hack her studio, pirate her holiday movie musical and deny her a third slice of pizza? She’ll keep smiling.
The Academy Award nominee and star of the breached Sony Pictures remake of “Annie” appears on the holiday cover of T, the New York Times Style magazine.
Donning a Bonpoint overcoat and a pair of Adidas Originals in a shot exclusive to TheWrap, Wallis’ costars and filmmakers spoke to the mag about the spark she’s maintained following her star-making turn in “Beasts of The Southern Wild.”
“There were certain moments when I read the script with her, when she’s supposed to be optimistic, and she was able to do it on her face without being like, ‘I’m optimistic!’” said “Annie” director Will Gluck.
“I was really concerned about not casting Broadway kids. We didn’t want anyone who knew how to emote to the back of the house.”
On set you’d find Miss Hannigan 2.0, Cameron Diaz, acting out of character and helping Wallis with her homework, according to the piece.
“I’m not certain that a girl that age has that kind of awareness. I don’t think Q did, anyhow,” Diaz said of any pressure on Wallis to fill the iconic role, previously played onscreen by Aileen Quinn and on Broadway by the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker.
Not much else seems to pressure the 11-year-old. She was relaxed when the profile’s author offered the aforementioned pizza (“Two slices is all I can eat,” she concluded) and moreso when she opened up about how she identified her true friends.
“Of course, when strangers see me they’re star-struck because of who I am, but my friends take me as a friend because I’m their friend, not because I’m a movie star,” Wallis said.
Director Gluck also serves as a writer on the remake, along with Aline Brosh McKenna, working from an original draft by Emma Thompson. Producers include James Lassiter, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Tyran Smith, Jay Brown and Shawn Carter aka Jay-Z.
Despite the pirating of “Annie” and other high-profile Sony flicks, like
“Annie” hits theaters on Friday, Dec. 19.
