How Quvenzhané Wallis spent her break from Hollywood ‘being normal’

“That gap was actually because I was ‘normal’ as much as possible,” Wallis said. “I was in high school, playing sports and being on the dance team, just living my life. But I was still auditioning and that’s what made this gap the most difficult for me, because I returned to a normal environment No, no one treated me special, no one treated me like I was someone important.

She laughed knowingly. “I just had the right to be myself, I had the right to discover who I was as a person,” she continued. “So I’m grateful for this break because I wouldn’t have been this person without it. I don’t know who I would have been if I had just continued to work throughout this period and achieved here. I don’t don’t think I’d want to be the person I would be if that happened.

Now that Wallis is here, she is still looking for the best balance between her career and her private life.

“I can’t even lie to you, I’m still learning!” she says. “It’s been 10 years, I’m still trying to get there.”

But she knows that, if she could, she’d tell a certain Oscar-nominated 9-year-old not to take everything that happens in Hollywood — or herself — so seriously.

“Not everyone really cares what you do or what you look like,” Wallis said. “Everyone is so involved in their own lives that you can’t hold them to your standards. Just be all of you and don’t let what you think other people are watching or wondering (contacting you). Don’t do it. Be you.

Breathe currently in theaters and available digitally and on demand.

And while you reflect on Wallis’ wise words, read on to see what happens next for other child actors who made a splash in Oscar-nominated films: