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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2013)
Arts & Entertainment Crazy about Nazie! Q uvenzhané “Nazie“ Wallis C ELEBRITY was born on I NTERVIEW Aug. 28, 2003, in Houma, La., where she attends Honduras Ele- by Kam mentary School. She is Williams the daughter of Venjie and Qulyndreia Wallis, and sister to Qun- yquekya, Vejon and Venjie Jr. Nazie loves reading, singing, dancing, acting and playing her iPod and Nintendo DS. She’s a big fan of China McClain, Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, and her favorite sports are basketball, volleyball, dance and cheerleading. Here, she talks about her Oscar-nominated performance as Hushpuppy in “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a visually- enchanting modern parable issuing a dire warning about the threat to the planet posed by civilization and corporations if left unchecked. Kam Williams: Hi Quvenzhané, thanks for giving me an interview. You were so beautiful and so amazing in this movie! I was really stunned by your stage presence. Quvenzhané Wallis: Thank you. KW: I thought you were funny and charming when I saw you interviewed by Jay Leno on the Tonight Show recently. And I know that you also went to the Sundance Film Festi- val and travelled to France for the Cannes Film Festival. What was that like? QW: I had a lot of fun in France. I liked how they said my name over there. They wouldn’t say Quvenzhané. They would say a whole other thing. KW: What type of name is Quvenzhané? I thought it was French, especially since you’re from Louisiana, where there are a lot of people with French ancestry. QW: It’s Swahili. KW: My name is Swahili, too. Kam is short for Kamau. QW: [To her mother, excitedly] His name is Swahili, too! [To me] What does Kamau mean? KW: “Quiet warrior.” What does your name mean? QW: My name means “fairy.” KW: May I call you by your nickname, Nazie? QW: Yes, but it’s pronounced “Nay-zee.” KW: Sorry, “Nay-zee.” You were only 5, when you audi- tioned for the role of Hushpuppy. Had you acted or taken acting lessons before? QW: No. KW: Did you enjoy making Beasts of the Southern Wild? QW: Yes. KW: A lot of scenes were shot on the bayou and around animals like alligators, pigs and chickens. Were you ever afraid, Nazie? QW: Yes, I was afraid of the pig. KW: What was it like seeing yourself on the big screen for the first time, after the film was finished? QW: I was like: “Wow! There is actually a bigger me, but I can handle it.” It was something you wouldn’t get used to, but I felt smaller, and my voice was smaller, too. So, there was like a bigger me with a smaller voice, and a smaller me with a big voice. It was something I would never have thought would happen that way. KW: You are the youngest of four kids. Do your sister and big brothers treat you any differently now that you’re a movie star? QW: Nope, they treat me the same way. KW: Nazie, are you anything like your character, Hush- puppy? QW: In some ways I am, in some ways I’m not. We both like to go outside and do some things that you wouldn’t even think about. KW: What do you think people will learn from this movie? QW: That when you’re a little kid, you might have to take care of your parents as much as they take care of you. Oth- erwise, they might get sick, and that’s something you don’t want to happen. Page 8 The Portland Skanner KW: What do you like to do to have fun? QW: Ride my bike. KW: What is your favorite movie? QW: Happy Feet 2. KW: What is your favorite book? QW: “Judy Moody.” KW: Have you seen the Judy Moody movie? QW: No, I don’t think so, but I might have seen it at school. KW: I think you’d remember it if you’d seen it. It’s real- ly cool! What do you like to watch on TV? QW: The Disney Channel. KW: Which Disney show is your favorite, Nazie? QW: “Jessie.” See WILD on page 6 Quvenzhané Wallis
