‘Gifted’ child star also likes maths
MCKENNA GRACE doesn’t know how to do college-level calculus like Mary, the 7-year-old she plays in the movie Gifted, but maths happens to be her favourite subject, too.
“Mary and I do have some things in common,” the 10-year-old actress told KidsPost.
In the new drama, Mckenna plays a first-grademaths genius who lives in Central Florida with her Uncle Frank (Chris Evans, who also plays Captain America).
Frank doesn’t want Mary to grow up without friends – as his sister, Mary’s dead mother, did – so he sends her to public school.
On her first day of school, however, Mary proves just how boring regular classes can be for a truly gifted kid by answering every maths problem her teacher can come up with.
“Mary is really a great character. She has a lot of emotions and has a lot going on in her life,” Mckenna explained.
“She’s a really gifted little girl in maths.”
To prepare for her big role, Mckenna, who has been acting professionally since she was 6, did her own homework – watching award-winning movies suggested by her director, Marc Webb. All of them starred young actors or were about child prodigies .
While learning about Mary, Mckenna discovered that she could relate to the character. Not only do they love maths, but they are also both only children. They love to play the piano and sing, too.
Mckenna’s love of singing helped her bond with Evans at the two-month movie shoot in Georgia.
In the film, Evans’s character fights to keep his niece from being sent to live with his strict mathematician mother, who has her own ambitions for Mary.
“We were just always hanging out together, singing a few songs from a band called the Presidents of the United States of America: Back Porch and Peaches.”
Singing also helped Mckenna with the maths in the movie script. In a few scenes, Mary shows off how gifted she is by discussing, writing and solving complicated equations – in one case in front of a professor from a college for maths whizzes.
“So my mom and I, we turned it into a song, that’s how I memorised it all.It was such a catchy tune. It had to be so I could remember everything.”
Mckenna may not be ready for college-level maths, but she does understand the need for an alternative school environment. In Los Angeles, where her family lives, Mckenna is home-schooled to fit in with her showbiz schedule.
But the movie isn’t really about maths or school or what qualifies as gifted, Mckenna said: “I think it’s about how family comes in all shapes and sizes, beliefs, colours.” – Washington Post