Brooklynn Prince Is Directing a Movie at Eight Years Old Because It’s Never Too Early to Follow Your Dreams
Just in case you weren’t feeling unaccomplished in your adult life, Brooklynn Prince comes along and hammers that thought home.
In 2017, Brooklynn Prince starred in The Florida Project alongside Willem Dafoe. The movie earned an Academy Award, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for Dafoe as an actor in a supporting role. At the AFI Awards, The Florida Project took home Movie of the Year. Brooklynn Prince nabbed Best Breakthrough Performance from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and Best Young Actor/Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards and won or was nominated multiple times in other categories from other groups for her performance.
What’s a pre-tween actress to do after receiving such accolades for her second feature film before the age of 10? Direct her own movie of course.
Meet Brooklynn Prince, Almost the Youngest Movie Director Ever
On January 4, 2019, Brooklynn Prince announced on Instagram that shooting had begun on her directorial debut Colours.
She also announced that becoming one of the youngest movie directors of all time has always been a dream of hers and it’s now coming true.
“My dream of directing started on The Florida Project. I loved watching Sean work and was inspired by his patience, vision, and creativity. Since then my dream was to become one of the youngest directors of all time,” Brooklynn Prince captioned her Instagram photo that shows her behind a Panavision camera. “Today my journey as a director begins. Thank you to my friend and mentor, Sean Baker for believing in me, and to the amazing crew and cast. I hope to make you all very proud. I can’t wait for the world to see Colours.”
For the second day of shooting, Brooklynn Prince did what every director (young and old) should for the cast and crew: Provide ice cream.
Brooklynn Prince won’t be the youngest movie director, that’s Saugat Bista from Nepal. He made a feature-length film, Love you baba, at age seven. But, she does join the ranks of Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, and John Carpenter who all made their first movies before age 15. Does anyone care who is the youngest movie director of all time anyway? It’s the fact that Brooklynn Prince is doing it at eight years old that’s commendable.
Don’t Worry, Brooklynn Prince Is Still Acting
Brooklynn Prince has been busy since The Florida Project launched her to stardom at a young age. She is starring in a mystery series based on the life of 11-year-old investigative reporter Hilde Lysiak for the new Apple streaming service. Just as some people may think Brooklynn Prince is too young to direct a movie, people thought Hilde Lysiak was too young to break news, such as that of a murder in her Pennsylvania hometown. Brooklynn Prince’s casting must be kismet.
In addition to the Hilde Lysiak project and her directing duties on Colours, Brooklynn Prince has a role in the film adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, is voicing a character in Angry Birds 2, and, alongside Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, and Angelina Jolie, voices a character in animated-feature The One and Only Ivan.
You have to feel a tad bad for Brooklynn Prince’s future directors because she’ll likely have a thing or two to say about their process. Hopefully, she won’t rub the “one of the youngest movie directors” moniker in their faces. And avoid feeling worthless because she has accomplished more in less than a decade than most of us ever will — the system’s rigged, right?
