When Storm Reid was 3 years old, she went up to her mother and said, “I want to be on TV and I want to be a ‘stuperstar.’”
With a starring role in the Disney adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle In Time,” Storm is well on her way. She was director Ava DuVernay’s pick for the role—she fought to have Storm play Meg Murry, a young girl who goes on a cosmic adventure in search of her missing father.
Storm says she asked Ava why she chose her. “She had seven casting directors all over the world searching for Meg and she picked me. She said, ‘Because you’re the one that I wanted and you were the best.’ That really inspired me and I looked at myself in the mirror and said, okay, you’ve got this. It humbled me. I’m really blessed to have this opportunity and for her to say those words to me.”
Did you know the book before you got cast?
I did. I first came across it in 6th grade, I’m in 8th now. I loved the book and I thought Meg was such an interesting stubborn character so I was really excited when I got the audition to know I’ve already read the book and I had the backstory on it.
Who were you most excited to work with on this?
Everybody because Oprah is so iconic; Reese is in one of my favorite movies, “Legally Blonde”; Mindy, she’s so great and she’s so funny; and I was happy to work with Zach.
How does the movie compare with the book you had in your head when you were reading it?
It compares in the important aspects. But our movie is really different. Meg in the book is Caucasian and has red hair and me as Meg who is African-American with big curly hair. This movie has a lot more diversity than the book does.
Meg has a very special relationship with her brother. Can you talk about the actor who plays Charles Wallace and what’s your relationship like with him?
Deric is like my little brother in real life. He’s like the little brother I’ve never had. We have little conversations, I help him with his schoolwork if he needs it. We have a really good bond and relationship.
You play a character that was written to be Caucasian, does that open possibilities for you that you didn’t think about?
It did give me a bit of hope that African-American people can get more opportunities and it’s really hard for African-Americans in this industry to get some parts because they don’t look like them but just this part proves that we can do anything and that we can portray each part… If it’s meant for you, it’s gonna be yours.
Do you have characters you watched when you were younger that inspired you?
Zendaya inspires me with her fashion and being an African-American little girl on Disney and how her career has catapulted in the way it has and this might sound weird, but Matilda has really inspired me because in the movie, she did everything she wanted to do. My parents inspire me, my sister inspires me, they’re always so supportive and they tell me I can do anything.
Is there anything you’d like to study as a career?
I want acting to be my main career but I want to also maybe go to culinary school and learn how to cook and stuff. I might do that.
How do you make time for real life?
I do school here on set and I go to online school. I have a schedule every day and my mom makes sure I’m on top of that and then I hang with my friends on the weekends and I try to relax and hang with my sister and my dogs and read and watch movies. I’m about to start reading a book that Ava gave me for Christmas called “Letters To A Young Poet.”
Do you have a message for young girls?
Always believe in yourself, always have a dream, always have a plan and always be prepared. Smart girls rock and rule and it’s fun going to school. It’s fun reading books, and always be focused and determined and go to school.