Background
Wallis was born in Houma, Louisiana, to Qulyndreia (née Jackson), a teacher, and Venjie Wallis, Senior, a truck driver.
Wallis was born in Houma, Louisiana, to Qulyndreia (née Jackson), a teacher, and Venjie Wallis, Senior, a truck driver.
Wallis, at age five, lied about her age to audition for her very first acting job, the starring role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, because the minimum age to be considered was six. 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 script to accommodate her strong-willed personality. Zeitlin has also stated that "it was just the feeling behind her eyes".
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. 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 also the first person born in the 21st century to receive an Academy Award nomination.
Wallis had a role in the film 12 Years a Slave (2013), and collaborated with Sundance for the second time on a short film called Boneshaker. In 2014, she played the title character in a remake of the musical Annie. In May 2014, Wallis was named the face of Armani Junior, Giorgio Armani"s line for children and teens.
This makes her the first major child celebrity to be the face of a luxury brand.