The new film A Wrinkle In Time has some of Hollywood's biggest stars: Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, and more. But their stories all revolve around the central character, Meg Murry, who sets out on a journey through the universe to find her missing father — and Meg is played by 14-year-old actress Storm Reid.
A Wrinkle In Time is based on the acclaimed book of the same name by Madeleine L'Engle, which Reid first read in the 6th grade for a book report. She says she never thought that Meg could look like her.
"I imagined her as what she was described as — as a young Caucasian girl with freckles and wild, crazy hair," Reid says. "So I really didn't see myself being able to be Meg or, kind of, imagine myself, or a girl that looked like me, as Meg. But once I did get the script, it kind of all clicked and made sense. So I'm so glad that we do have a version of Meg who is Caucasian with freckles and big, wild hair, but also people will be able to see themselves in the new Meg that we have."
Interview Highlights
On the moment she first thought that Meg Murry could look like her
I feel like it was Ms. Ava [director Ava Duvernay], and she really made sure that it was important to have a little African-American girl at the center of the movie and ... so she really, I think, really told me that in the audition process. And I knew that it was something that was very important to her, and me as myself, to be able to not only see myself but represent other girls that looked like me.
On working with mega-celebrities and building the confidence to say to herself, "I belong here."
It took a second for me to kind of build the confidence and know this was meant to be, because I was freaking out. And I was so nervous and so intimidated when I walked on set everyday and saw everyone's face. But they all welcomed me with such warm arms, and they told me that this was meant to be and that we were going to have a good time and become family. So once they really told me that, I became more confident and more comfortable with them and being in the situation. And even though I was more confident and comfortable, I was still going in the corner and kind of pinching myself, and making sure this was, like, not a dream, but it was so much fun to have them and have them help me.
On a piece of advice Oprah gave her that made her feel at home on set
She said, "Don't waste energy on things you can't change in life, when you could be using that energy on something else positive in your life." So I used that on set to help me, like, keep me positive and motivate me and also, in my life, just to stay positive as well. And we just all had a really good time, and it felt like it was natural and all the scenes had a lot of love and a lot of, like, strength and power.
On what prompted Oprah to give her that advice
I had a fear of being too tall because my dad is very tall, and both my sisters are very tall. And they're drop-dead gorgeous, but I just didn't know if I, as Storm, wanted to be 6 feet tall, 'cause I feel like that's pretty tall. So I was having a conversation with Ms. Oprah and Ms. Ava on set, and we were talking about that ... and then Ms. Oprah turned that into an advice, a piece of information and she kinda turned that into something serious, which I really appreciate 'cause it helped me with that and with other things.
On what this moment means for her
It's a dream come true, and to be able to have such an amazing support system and basically [be] sharing our baby, which is this piece of art and magic that we love so much and that we created, and basically [that] we're giving that to the world is kind of scary, but it's so much fun. And I hope people like it and enjoy it, and it kind of touches them. And it's something that I've always wanted, so to be able to see my hard work pay off is really amazing.
Justine Kenin and Mallory Yu produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Sydnee Monday and Petra Mayer adapted it for the Web.
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