Oscar girl

Houma native and Beasts of the Southern Wild star Quvenzhané Wallis is the youngest Best Actress Academy Award nominee in the 85 years of the Oscars. She was just 6 years old when Louisiana-set Beasts was shot, and Oscar-nominated director Benh Zeitlin tells 225 she even fibbed on her application to audition for the role at the age of 5.

“There was a moment when she was supposed to throw a water bottle at the other actor [during the reading],” Zeitlin says. “She turned to me and said, ‘That’s not right,’ and wouldn’t do it. I knew then we’d found our Hushpuppy.”

Catch Wallis, Zeitlin and the entire Beasts team at the Academy Awards Sunday, Feb. 24, on ABC. oscar.go.com