The spunky 9-year-old actress in “Beasts of the Southern Wild” has become the youngest nominee for Best Actress at the Oscars.
The Oscars have been making history this year with major snubs, surprising nominations, and welcoming both the oldest and youngest Best Actress nominees in Oscar history.
Quvenzhane Wallis has received major recognition critical acclaim for her role as Hushpuppy in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Critics everywhere claim that the young star’s performance proved she had “wisdom beyond her years.”
Wallis was only 5-years-old when her mother tricked her into auditioning for the role by telling her she was going to check out books from the library. Instead, her mother rushed her off to the audition and the young actress was skeptical.
Despite being tricked into auditioning for the role, her spunky attitude won casting over in a heartbeat and Wallis was suddenly whisked away to stardom.
Being only nine means she has beat Keisha Castle-Hughes record as the youngest Best Actress nominee for her role in “Whale Rider” when she was 13.
Although it is shocking to see a nine year old competing with major names in the industry – including Jessica Chastain from “Zero Dark Thirty,” Jennifer Lawrence from “Silver Linings Playbook,” and the oldest Best Actress nominee Emmanuelle Riva from “Amour” – Shirley Temple still stands as the youngest actress to receive any kind of Oscar, but even she was competing against the grown folks.
Temple was only 6-years-old when she nabbed the Academy Juvenile Award back in 1935.
The outspoken actress is the youngest Best Actress nominee, and ranks in as the third youngest nominee in all four of the acting categories.
Justin Henry was only 8-years-old when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1980 for his role in Kramer Vs. Kramer. Second place is held by Jackie Cooper who was only nine when he grabbed a nomination for Best Actor for his “Skippy” role in 1931.
Of course, Wallis has yet another chance to break another Oscars record if she actually wins the award for Best Actress. It would make her not only the youngest actress to receive the award in her category, but it would also make her the youngest star to grab an Oscar in any of the four acting categories.
That record is currently being held by Tatum O’Neal who was 10-years-old when she was selected as the Best Supporting Actress for her “Paper Moon” role in 1974. Just behind O’Neal is Anna Paquin who was 11 when she won the same category for “The Piano” in 1994.
While she is waiting to find out if she has won her first Oscars, Quvenzhane has already nabbed the Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actor/Actress – triumphing over Kara Hayward, Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Tom Holland, and Suraj Sharma.
Breaking Oscars records is just the beginning for the “Beasts of the Southern Wild” actress, however, as she has already been cast to play in the upcoming film “Twelve Years a Slave” along side Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt, and Michael Fassbender.
In case you were wondering what a 9-year-old girl wants in order to celebrate her historical nomination? “Pizza, chicken and waffles and good stuff,” is all the pint sized actress really wants.
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” is also up for three more nominations in addition to Wallis’s Best Actress nomination. Director Benh Zeitlin is up for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for the powerful film, and the movie was touching enough to have the film grab a nomination in the “Best Picture” category as well.
