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Beyonce; ABC/Image Group LAQuvenzhané Wallis, who at age nine was the youngest actress to receive an Oscar nomination for her role as Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild, can now add published author to her resume.
While her two new children’s books, A Night Out with Mama and Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg are currently her focus at age 14, Wallis says one of her most memorable moments as a young star was meeting Beyoncé.
“The first time I met her, I was at a concert of hers a few years ago and I met her backstage,” Wallis tells ABC Radio.
“And I was crazy like… shocked. Like, ‘I’m backstage, I’m meeting Beyoncé, I’m going to go crazy.'”
According to Wallis, she needed Bey’s first child, Blue Ivy, to help her “calm down.”
“I’m very good with babies and stuff and Blue was backstage. And as soon as I saw Blue, I was like maybe this will just like calm me down,” Wallis explains.
“And I went and talked to Blue and played with Blue and she was already so smart. It was crazy, it is something that I’d never forget.”
Wallis, who was later featured in Beyoncé’s 2016 “Formation” music video, says while it was amazing to meet Beyoncé, her Queen Bey connection didn’t necessarily leave a lasting impression on her friends.
“They were just like, ‘Girl what were you doing on the Lemonade… like I didn’t even know you were doing this…'” she said.
“And they were just asking a lot of questions. But it was just mostly like most of my friends being like, ‘That’s so cool.'” They got over it the next day. Like it wasn’t something they lingered on.”
Wallis’ books are available for purchase now.
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