by What was your reaction when you saw the last movie for the first time?
It was really exciting because I haven’t seen anything from this movie since two and a half years ago when I shot it. So it’s been quite a while since I visited the world again 65 and my character. Watching it, I couldn’t help but mention what was going on behind the scenes. I’ll snap out of what I’m supposed to be watching and say, “I remember that day. I fell out of a tree, or whatever it is. My embarrassing stories are tied to the scenes I watch. But it was really fun! It was cute to see my 13 year old with my short hair. Finally seeing the dinosaurs put up, sound effects and lighting, it was like wow! At the moment, I couldn’t imagine what it might look like because it’s a giant dinosaur you can’t even fathom what it would look like in real life, so it was definitely fun to see how they put it together and the details.
Next, you have the much-awaited Barbie doll movie. Can you tell us a bit about your role in the film?
Okay, so let me tell you, what you’ve seen so far is the smallest piece imaginable. I’m never on Twitter because it’s a dark hole that I don’t want to go down to, but when I was there when little leaks came out, I was just full of malicious excitement because I was like, “They have no idea what’s going on.” They make up these stories, and it’s like, “You’re cute, but you couldn’t be further from the truth.” It’s really exciting. You can expect a lot of fashion moments, a lot of pink and a lot of Greta Gerwig’s genius. [I] somehow [fit] into some story, but I can’t tell you. But you’re going to love it, and I feel like it’s going to be such a beautiful and exciting movie that you can watch it thousands of times on sleepovers or anywhere and never get tired of it. It’s a really cool, big surprise with a lot of cool people and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.
Did you play with Barbie dolls when you were younger?
So that was my thing when I first got the whole project note. I thought, ‘Okay, that’s fantastic because Greta Gerwig is writing and directing, and hi, I’m one of her biggest fans.’ Margot Robbie, one of her biggest fans. I thought, “Good!” I had a Barbie Dreamhouse, but I put Monster High dolls in there, and I put all these really weird non-Barbie dolls in the house. I just liked the flushing sound effect, the elevator and the fireplace. It was my jam! I liked having my own house where I could do little things, but I’ve never played with Barbie dolls. It was definitely interesting. I thought, ‘Oh no, I hope not everyone on set is a huge Barbie fan, because I’m not.’ But finally it worked.
You also have a movie Kresy in preparation, which is an adaptation of a popular video game. In this movie you have Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart and Jack Black. Can you tell us about your experience working on it?
What I can tell you about this is that I was interviewed Kresy during filming 65. I remember one day I came home and I was literally exhausted and it was midnight. I’m trying to find all the research on this character – her name is Tiny Tina. Why is her name Tiny Tina? This is a madman. I looked at it and gave myself completely and said, “This is kind of lit up. I love it.” Then my beloved mother said, “Okay, I’m going.” And I was like, “What?” And she’s like, “I need to buy something!” She came back from Walmart (we love Walmart in New Orleans – it was our second home)… and she’s got all these little gadgets she made to make me look a bit like this video game character with dirt and plasters and all of that So it’s the middle of the night and we’re trying to film this tape and I’m like, “It’s not working. But in the end it did, because you see the madness going on in my brain and I just fall apart, and it worked great for the character because it’s psychotic.
Working on the film was the fulfillment of my biggest nervous dream – being infatuated with a star, everything. … From the age of 6, when people asked, “Who would you like to work with?” you will expect [my answer to be] like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, whatever, but my answer was Kevin Hart every time without a doubt. All my life I’ve wanted to work with Kevin Hart. So of course, when I heard he was a part of it, I thought, ‘I can’t. I can not do that. I can’t meet him. And then I go and meet everyone, and everyone is so wonderful. I fell in love with everyone on set. Working with Jamie… First of all, let’s cover her beautiful soul. She is indescribable because she is just a caring, loving, sweet, professional and adoring person. He takes pictures every day. She’ll be like, “Don’t move. I do black and white. I’ll edit it and send it to you later.” It has an endless amount of history. I mean, he’s literally an icon.
And then Cate Blanchett. I really admire her. She always came on set to look fantastic and has the best personality. When we were filming reruns a few weeks ago, we saw each other for the first time in several years, and I think we bonded a lot more because he finally feels more comfortable telling his dirty jokes. She told me, “I couldn’t say things like that when you were 13.” So we were definitely able to banter back and forth a lot more. The whole cast was strangely and perfectly intertwined. And it’s such a weird bunch to put in one place and say, “Okay, go crazy with these characters.” Florian Munteanu, who plays Krieg, is like my best friend, even though he is 32 years old and a boxer from Romania. He couldn’t be more like me!
You’re only 15 years old and already have an impressive acting resume. Who are the women and/or professions you are looking at in this business?
I love this question and spent a lot of time saving people because I don’t want to miss a single person. … Trust me – I have many. I admire Natalie Portman because she is fantastic. I admire Saoirse Ronan. I would love to work with her. I think she’s brilliant and she’s also in Greta’s family. Mia Goth, especially lately. She delighted everyone and created her own definition of camp and chaos. I’m obsessed with what she did. Anya Taylor-Joy – sick, cool. Menu he was a drug. I would love to work with Zoe Saldan. Although I played a younger version of her so it looks like it, but I haven’t played one-on-one with her and I think she’s amazing.
I want to work with Winona Ryder because I recently watched The girl paused. I’m very late, I know, but I watched it and it’s now one of my favorite movies. There are so many people I’ve admired over the years, even behind the scenes – writers, directors, costume designers – because everyone plays such a huge part and role and it can ruin or make a movie. I just have a big list of dreams in my head and when it’s full I just say the name and say, “Alright universe, set it up for me!”
