McKenna Grace’s character in the new Sundance film “Troop Zero” is named “Christmas Flint,” and with a name like that, you’re bound to be a little odd.
The 12-year-old star of the film told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven why it’s OK to show your true colors.
“It’s OK to be weird. It doesn’t matter who you love, who you are, what religion you are, what race you are, or if you just feel different just because. It just shows you that it’s OK to be different,” Grace said as part of TheWrap’s Sundance studio. “Difference is the one thing we all have in common.”
In “Troop Zero,” McKenna stars opposite Viola Davis, Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan in a story set in rural 1970s Georgia. Her character Christmas dreams of making a connection with life in outer space, so she forms a troop of fellow misfits so she can win a contest at a jamboree to be included on NASA’s Golden Record that will be sent up into space.
Screenwriting duo Bert & Bertie directed “Troop Zero,” which was acquired by Amazon Studios out of the festival.
McKenna started her career when she was just six years old, and she’s already appeared in “I, Tonya,” “The Bad Seed,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Gifted” and will soon appear as a young Carol Danvers in “Captain Marvel.” But she enjoys the feel-good charm that Bert & Bertie brought to this particular story.
“It’s really nice to have a feel good movie where I won’t have to fall, go to sleep in my parents’ bed,” McKenna said.
Watch TheWrap’s video with McKenna and Bert & Bertie above.