Quvenzhane Wallis Biography

Quvenzhané Wallis (; ; born August 28, 2003) is an American child actress. She is known for her leading role as Hushpuppy in the critically acclaimed drama film Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), for which she became the youngest actress ever to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Personal life

Wallis was born in Houma, Louisiana, the daughter of Qulyndreia, a teacher, and Venjie Wallis, Sr., a truck driver. "Quven", the first part of her name, combines the first syllables of her parents' first names.

Career

Wallis, at age five, had to lie about her age to audition for her very first acting job. She had the attitude for it the right personality"?the starring role in Beasts of the Southern Wild"?because the minimum age to be considered was six. She eventually beat out some 4,000 contenders for the role of Hushpuppy"?the 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'd discovered what he was looking for, and changed the Beasts script to accommodate her strong-willed personality. Her reading ability, loud scream and the skill of burping on command impressed the director and won her the part. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2012 to rave reviews, winning the Grand Jury Prize. In May 2012, Wallis flew to France for the premiere of the film at the Cannes Film Festival. The film received much acclaim and praised Wallis for her outstanding performance and it went on to win the prestigious Caméra d'Or award for Best first Feature Film. On January 10, 2013, at age nine, Wallis became the Academy Awards' youngest nominee for Best Actress and third youngest in all categories. However, she was just six during the filming. Wallis is the first African-American child actor to earn an Oscar nomination. She is the first person born in the 21st century to receive an Academy Award nomination.

She has signed on to star in Steve McQueen's upcoming film 12 Years a Slave alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt. The film is based on the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free man from New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana. In 2013, she will collaborate with Sundance for the second time on a short film called Boneshaker.

In February 2013, Wallis was cast as the title character in a new film version of Annie.

85th Academy Awards controversy

During the 85th Academy Awards, a post from The Onion's Twitter account posted a message that read "Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right?" The post was deleted within an hour, but not before hundreds of angry responses. Onion CEO Steve Hannah issued an apology to Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, calling the remarks "crude and offensive" and "No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire." Scott Dikkers, Vice President Creative Development for the publication, said in a Monday interview that the publication has sent a note of apology to Quvenzhané and her family but also stated, "She's a big star now. I think she can take it."

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Beasts of the Southern Wild	Hushpuppy	Lead Role American fantasy drama film Youngest Best Actress Nominee in Oscar history.
2013	Boneshaker	Blessing	Short film
	12 Years a Slave	Margaret Northup	Post-production
2014	Annie	Annie	Lead Role Pre-production

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Work	Result
2013	Academy Award for Best Actress	Beasts of the Southern Wild
	African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
	Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
	Austin Film Critics Association for Breakthrough Artist Award
	Black Reel Award for Best Actress
	Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer
	Capri Hollywood Festival Award for Best Actress
	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer
	Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
	Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
	Denver Film Critics Society for Best Actress
	Disney Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Breakout Performance
	Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance
	Hollywood Film Festival New Hollywood Award
	Houston Film Critics Society for Best Actress
	Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
	MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
	National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Actress
	New York Film Critics Online Award for Breakthrough Performance
	Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Youth Performance in a Lead or Supporting Role " Female
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Performance
	Santa Barbara International Film Festival "? Virtuoso Award
	Satellite Award for Best Breakthrough Actress
	Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor
	St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
	Utah Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
	Women Film Critics for Best Youth Performance
	Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress

See also

• List of accolades received by Beasts of the Southern Wild
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees