Storm Reid‘s only 14-years-old, but she’s already landed herself a lead role in Disney‘s latest flick, A Wrinkle In Time, and is bezzie mates with Oprah, so she’s certainly doing a hell of a lot better than I was at 14.
Storm assumes the role of Meg, an ordinary girl who’s thrust into a world of adventure when she has to find her missing father with the help of three celestial guides but as you’d expect things don’t go quite as smoothly as you’d imagine.
The role is Storm’s first lead, a daunting task for any 14-year-old yet Storm appears to take everything in her stride.
“It was really scary playing my first lead role in such a huge movie but I just gave it my all and everyone was really nice so that helped a lot,” she said.
In the book, Meg is portrayed as Caucasian but director Ava DuVernay felt it was important to have an actress who reflected the diversity that’s evident in the world around us.
“Storm Reid as Meg is a departure from the description of the girl in the book,” says DuVernay.
“She’s a biracial child, so this is a girl who is inclusive of different kinds of people in her very being.
The hope is that you see this film, no matter who you are, and you see yourself in it.”
It’s a decision that weighed heavily on Storm’s shoulders, but she began to realise the importance of the position she was in.
“There’s a lot of pressure being one of the first African-American girls to be the lead in a sci-fi film,” she explains. “But when the announcement came out I received so much positive feedback, with little girls saying, ‘Oh my God, there’s Meg and she looks just like me.’ That really inspired me, so I feel blessed to be given the opportunity to be a part of something so special.”
As if she wasn’t a bloody dead set legend already, she even performed her own stunts during the movie. A feat that an uncoordinated goof like me would undoubtedly struggle to accomplish.
“Doing the stunts was really fun! I enjoyed it for the most part and it was an extremely interesting experience, but at one point we were in harnesses for like a week straight and that incredibly uncomfortable!”
She’s hoping that those who see the movie leave feeling more inspired than they went in.
“We want people to come out of the movie theatre feeling inspired and confident and you’ll know that you are enough and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you different,” she said.
As for whether anyone passed down any worthwhile info for a budding actress, she says she was told: “Don’t waste energy on things you cant change, channel that into something productive.”
And tbh, she’s goddamn right.
A Wrinkle In Time hits our shores on the 22nd of March, you’d be a bloody fool to miss it.
