Quvenzhané Wallis ( kwə-VEN-zhə-nay; born August 28, 2003) is an American actress and author. She made her acting debut in the drama film Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the youngest nominee in the category and the first born in the 21st century. Subsequent credits included Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) and the 2014 remake of the musical Annie, in which her portrayal of the title character was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as a voice role in the animated film Trolls (2016).
Offscreen, Wallis has published four children's books, Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg! (2017), A Night Out with Mama (2017), Shai & Emmie Star in Dancy Pants! (2018), and Shai & Emmie Star in To the Rescue! (2018).
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Early life
Wallis was born on August 28, 2003, in Houma, Louisiana. Her parents are Qulyndreia Wallis (née Jackson), a teacher, and Venjie Wallis Sr., a truck driver. She has one sister, Qunyquekya, and two brothers, Vejon and Venjie Jr. Her name "Quvenzhané" combines the first syllables of her parents' first names in "Quven", and an alteration of the Swahili word jini meaning "sprite" or "fairy".
Career
At age five, Wallis' parents lied about her age to audition for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), which had a minimum tryout age of six. She was chosen out of 4,000 to play Hushpuppy, an indomitable child prodigy and survivalist who lives with her dying father in the backwoods bayou squalor of Louisiana. Director Benh Zeitlin told The Daily Beast that when he auditioned Wallis, he immediately realized he had discovered what he was looking for, and changed the Beasts of the Southern Wild script to accommodate her strong-willed personality. Her reading prowess, loud screaming voice, and ability to burp on command impressed the director and won her the part. Zeitlin stated that "it was just the feeling behind her eyes".
