EXCLUSIVE: Mackenzie Foy Meets The Little Prince

 

By: Lynn Barker

In The Little Prince, a Little Girl (voiced by Mackenzie Foy) lives her mega-controlled life by her well-meaning, stiffly-professional mom’s life schedule. She’s a smart child with no sense of wonder. When The Aviator (Jeff Bridges) a grizzled old dreamer next door, comes into her life with stories about a mythical prince who lives on a tiny asteroid, is when she really learns to be alive.

Beautiful young actress Mackenzie Foy has grown up over the course of recording her Little Girl voice in many sessions for The Little Prince an animated film based on the popular children’s book. She had just turned 12 when she started recording and now she is 15. Big difference! Mackenzie told us, “I’m several inches taller and went through puberty since then. I recorded the voice over several years. It was a learning curve. That experience has taught me many things”.

The teen will soon star as lead character Clara a Disney version of The Nutcracker. She was a model and was originally noticed as a young child at a dance recital. Her fave animated film way back then was Bambi and she has sort of been playing Pokémon Go but admits she is lazy at it. She warned us, “Never interrupt someone playing Pokémon. While I was doing hair and make-up for a press day there was a Pokémon in the hotel room so I was like “Oh my gosh!” It’s really fun. Sometimes I’ll cheat when my mom is driving around in the car. I’m lazy about it”.  She is certainly not lazy about her acting.

Kidzworld: Serious question: Do you think that kids in show business are encouraged to grow up faster than other kids in order to be disciplined and have a strong work ethic?

• Mackenzie: I think some cases are different than others but all of the child actors that I have encountered, as well as myself ,are real kids. I mean we do all the things that kids do. We’re normal. We just to do different things. We like to act and make people feel happy or sad but we’re “real” people. No one has ever pushed me to grow up like that.

Kidzworld: Good. So you've been able to avoid that. As a teen do you still retain that sense of childhood sense of wonder?

• Mackenzie: Very much so!

Kidzworld: Do you live on a tight schedule? I assume your mom hasn’t planned out your whole life like your character in this film. What do you do to relax and kick back when not working?

• Mackenzie: It kind of varies according to what I’m doing and what my situation is but, most of the time, I have no idea what I’m doing until the day of. Usually, I wake up, do school and Taekwondo (she’s a black belt) and come back home. I’m usually ready for anything and keep a back-pack ready.

Kidzworld: Did they show you drawings or early animation of your Little Girl character?

• Mackenzie: They showed me some clay sculptures of her and, later on, showed me more storyboards then the actual animation itself. The clay sculptures were the Little Girl, the Aviator, The Little Prince and the Fox.

Kidzworld: I so want one of those toy stuffed foxes. Did they give you one?

• Mackenzie: They gave me a cute key-chain.

Kidzworld: Any pets at home?

• Mackenzie: I have a cat and a dog. They don’t really get along but I think they get along when no one is looking.

Kidzworld: What was the hardest scene to record and get your voice right and which one was the most fun?

• Mackenzie: Hard to remember. We re-did a lot of it because, sometimes, the script would have changed so they’d have me to it again but all of it was definitely a challenge trying to convey all the emotions without using my body or my face. But, it was fun. They shot a bit of video of me recording and I think, as in all my characters, there’s a little bit of me inside them (once they are on screen).

Kidzworld: You voiced Violet in The Boxcar Children. How was recording for The Little Prince different?

• Mackenzie: Well I did The Little Prince first then Boxcar Children. But it was really different. For The Boxcar Children, we did a lot of group recording sessions. All of the children were there. I did some single (recording) but not for the entire script and I had to dub some of it so that was a different experience trying to match (another voice actor) Pauline’s performance. That was really tricky.
• Most of The Little Prince, I did by myself with director Mark. It had a total different energy and feel to it which was unique. I got to record with Jeff Bridges (The Aviator) and that was really fun!

Kidzworld: I know you have read the book.. Talk about that and showing everyone the snake drawing?

• Mackenzie: “The Little Prince” is one of my favorite books. I used to get the picture of the elephant inside the snake, and I would go around and show it to all of the adults and ask them what they saw. The ones who hadn’t read the book said it was a hat. I was like, ‘No, it’s an elephant inside a snake!’”  I read it for school in I think the fourth grade. But, I’m a big fan and continue to read the book.

Kidzworld: Do you think you have writing or drawing talent? Would you like to create your own book?   

• Mackenzie: I love to draw and paint. I’m very active in that way but I’m not very good with the written word though.

Kidzworld: If you go to college later on what would you study?

• Mackenzie: I want to study cinematography.

Kidzworld: What bands or music artists are you really into right now?

• Mackenzie: It changes weekly. I love Adele, Imagine Dragons, I’m a huge fan and Taylor Swift.

Kidzworld: What would you say to teens and tweens as to why they’ll really enjoy seeing The Little Prince?

• Mackenzie: It is a beautiful film. It’s a film that I recommend seeing again throughout your life because every time you see it there will be a different meaning and a different layer uncovered.

See The Little Prince in selected theaters and on Netflix now!

 

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