Tomorrow may only be a day away but today the rumor mill is singing about the possibility of the youngest ever Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis becoming the next big screen Annie. According to EW, the role was originally meant for Willow Smith and was set to be produced by Will Smith’s company, Overbrook Entertainment and Jay-Z’s company, Marcy Media. However, the younger Smith declined the role.
At the time Smith was 11 years old, the exact age that the role of Annie calls for but Smith dropped out of the role last month. She turned 12 on October 21, 2012 and many including the young Smith cited the fact that she aged out of the role. The senior Smith addressed the situation while speaking at Temple University. He said that in a discussion about the role, Willow told him, “I have a better idea, how ‘bout I just be 12.” That begs the question, why Wallis?
As mentioned earlier she is the youngest Oscar nominee in history at just 9 years old for her breakthrough role in Beasts Of The Southern Wild. That makes her a hot commodity in Hollywood right now, which is certainly an excellent reason to consider her for the role. As far age matters go, there really isn’t a big difference between 9 and 11 years old and there is less of a difference between 11 and 12 years old. Even if the eclectically dressed Smith did outgrow the role, certainly an exception could have been made since Smith still has a young look.
However her funnyman father provided the real answer as to why Smith dropped out of the role.
“Willow was supposed to be doing Annie, we got Jay-Z to do the movie, go to the studio to come in and Willow had such a difficult time on tour with ‘Whip My Hair’ and she said, ‘You know Daddy, I don’t think so.’"
It sounds a lot like a case of too much too soon and a young starlet being mature enough to recognize that and pass the baton on to another young rising star. No deals have been finalized yet between Wallis and the elder Smith.
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