Be Entertained!

The actress brings new life to the classic Christmas adventure

Seventeen-year-old Mackenzie Foy is no stranger to the world of Hollywood after starring in Interstellar and TheTwilight Saga. But she admits portraying Clara Clar in Disney’s new film TheNutcracker andtheFourRealms is her biggest role yet.

“Playing Clara, I found out a lot about inner strength,” explains the Los Angeles- Angeles based high school student. “Clara is a smart, quick-thinking, ready-for-anything kind of girl. She’s very complex, which I love. And she’s British, which is one of my favourite things because it meant I got to do an accent!”

The live-action adaptation of the classic tale sees Clara go on a magical quest through many strange lands to find a missing key she desperately needs. Aside from the British accent, one of Mackenzie’s highlights of working on the film was wearing some amazing costumes.

“They were all handmade and very, very intricate, which is really amazing,” she tells. “But I really love the purple party dress because that one has a bustle and it’s really fun. It was very beautiful. There’s a lot of detail that went into the costume design, from the tights and the shoes, to the many skirt layers, bodices and corsets.”

Yet even with the gorgeous outfits, Mackenzie had to call on all her acting abilities to get into the character of Clara. She says, “I had to make a complete transformation, from the way I move to the way I talk. I had to think, ‘How would a Victorian girl walk? How would she sit?’ I tried to make her move fluidly, but also be tough and ready for everything. Being able to do the stunts made me feel so strong – and being able to do them in a dress was very cool!”

The rising young star certainly has a bright future ahead of her, but scoring the lead role in a Disney movie will be hard to beat, Mackenzie insists. “What’s beautiful about TheNutcracker is that it’s such a beloved story throughout many, many years. It’s really fun to be able to play a character that so many people all over the world can relate to and have this childhood connection with from seeing the ballet when they were young.”