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Quvenzhané Wallis
Quvenzhané Wallis (born August 28, 2003) is an American child actress. She is best known for her leading role as Hushpuppy in the critically acclaimed 2012 drama film Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Early life
Wallis was born to Venjie Sr. and Qulyndreia Wallis. Her name is pronounced "Qui-ven-ZHEN-ay". She is currently attending Hounduras Elementary School in Houma, Louisiana. In 2012, Wallis appeared in an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where she told him that the Zhané part of her name means fairy in Swalihi.

Career
At age 5, Nazie(her nickname), had to fib 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. 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 Nazie, he immediately realized he'd discovered what he was looking for, and changed the 'Beasts' script to accommodate her strong-willed personality. 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 movie 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 Film. Wallis currently ranks second in Best Actress category for the Academy Awards.