Grace VanderWaal Reflects on Growing Up Famous and Knowing Her Worth
The actor and musician opens up about growing up in the spotlight, collaborating with Francis Ford Coppola, and her upcoming album.
Photography EMILY SOTO
Styled by CALVY CLICK
When we first met Grace VanderWaal, it was 2016. America’s Got Talent reigned as a ratings juggernaut, and a 12-year-old sporting an Anna Wintour-like bob and strumming a ukulele possessed enough power to pull over 100 million views on YouTube. Looking every bit the part of a Crewcuts catalog model in a pair of yellow skinny jeans and ballet flats, the Suffern, New York native stole hearts on the competition show’s stage. Her charisma was as obvious as her ear-to-ear grin, and was matched only by the raw vocals of someone at least twice her age. After Simon Cowell dubbed her “the next Taylor Swift,” she was there to stay and, eventually, to become the second female—and the first-ever child—victor in the show’s history.
Eight years later, VanderWaal has two EPs, one record (another is on the way), and a brief but memorable cameo in a Francis Ford Coppola film. In 2020, she starred in the romantic Disney film Stargirl, and its 2022 sequel. Her bob remains steadfast, and her smile is as wide as ever. But she’s growing up now. Within seconds of meeting at the Black Cat café on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, we realize we share the same tattoo—a haphazard female gender sign misshapen by age and, in her case, an immature hand: her own, at age 14.
“I was so young and such a late bloomer,” VanderWaal said with a rasping laugh while reflecting on her America’s Got Talent fame. With it came the kind of rebellion inevitable to every teenager. “Thinking about those memories... I looked like... well, you know what I looked like. A little kid. But I was drinking vodka and like, doing these stupid tattoos."
Swilling liquor and sporting stick-and-poke tattoos seem the extent of VanderWaal’s youthful disobedience, though. Despite being as self-punishing as the average 20-year-old woman, she’s remarkably self-aware. Coming of age on a national stage, it seems, tends to simultaneously impede and accelerate the maturity of someone who’s making a living from performing. She’s working all of that out on the forthcoming album, though. In the meantime, her audience is likely to expand after the wide release of Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Roman Empire–inspired fable set in an imagined modern America. As she fills me in on working with the acclaimed director, it’s clear that the excitable 12-year-old is very much still in there.
Keep scrolling to read VanderWaal's conversation with L’OFFICIEL about her unlikely collaboration with Coppola, coming of age online, and some questions she doesn’t yet have an answer to.
"Honestly, I thought I was never going to act again or be in another movie because I wasn't able to connect to the art form."
L’OFFICIEL: Megalopolis isn’t your first foray into film, but it’s certainly the most high-profile project. How did that happen?
Grace VanderWaal: I got a call from my management and they were like, “Francis Ford Coppola wants to have a chat with you at his house.” I got there, and he was just sitting at the kitchen table. What I didn't know was that the casting directors were also sitting around the table. He started telling me about this project, and my character, Vesta Sweetwater, and I was like, "This sounds insane but hey, I'll rock with it". It was a very stimulating conversation where I would push some ideas beyond the script. That was refreshing, instead of just taking it as is. I think that’s why I ended up in the project.
L’O: Your character is a singer. I heard you also wrote original music for the role. How did that happen?
GV: [My character] writes a pop song about being celibate. I wrote two songs for the movie. It ended up being so much fun, and [Coppola] offered me a shocking amount of creative agency. It was borderline collaborative. I love him, but also that environment. He would always ask me what I thought of things, and it’s kind of crazy to tell Francis Ford Coppola, “No, I don’t really think I should do that…” Honestly, I thought I was never going to act again or be in another movie because I wasn't able to connect to the art form. It just doesn't feel artistically fulfilling for me. But his environment was a 180 for me. I was like, “Oh, this is what this can be.”
L’O: Megalopolis is like a who’s who of Hollywood, from Aubrey Plaza to Adam Driver. Was playing against some of these people intimidating?
GV: Aubrey was so nice to me. And I think she was the only one to follow me on Instagram. I'm a small part and my scene is very isolated, so I wasn't in the throes. Adam is tied to my character, which was really, really cool. He's literally an old oak tree personified. He was definitely who I was most starstruck by. He is really an amazing actor. I have one speaking line—I had one job—and I just looked into his eyes and…all I could think was I'm looking at Adam Driver. It was so embarrassing. He ended up taking me aside and really talked to me. We talked about living in New York, and my perception was that he was doing this to humanize himself. It was very kind. I was like, I sense a kind soul in you.
L’O: The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and, for your debut, you wore a veil and a vintage gown from Desert Stars Vintage in Brooklyn. Was there a specific intention behind the look?
GV: I think a lot of people are getting bored. And it's not beneficial to individual artists anymore to wear something boring. They want a stylist who can collaborate on a vision and pull anything to manifest it. We didn't have time to work with a stylist. It was so last-minute, but I knew that I wanted to do this virginal goddess look. I was talked into that dress, and then the veil was custom and came from NK Bride. Sometimes with Janelle [Best, owner of Desert Stars Vintage] you wonder if she's in over her head, but somehow she never is. I think it's the happiest I've been with a look in my entire life.
"Patriarchy is within the core of who you are, and there's a sense of resentment in finding out half of your core isn’t yours."
L’O: What was it like stepping onto that red carpet for the first time?
GV: Have you ever seen the Grand Canyon, or something that is so surreal to your human eyes that it looks like a simulation? It’s almost like you're high.
L’O: You’re working on a new record at the moment. How do you feel your sound and songwriting are evolving as you age?
GV: I feel attached to this project that I'm working on right now more than anything. It's the best work I've ever done in my life. People ask me what my next album is like, and I’d just say it’s a lot of meaningful production. The sounds are extremely intentional, and everything you're hearing, I chose myself. I had so many complex feelings about becoming a young woman, and I'm very inspired by the future me, what my experience has been, and also some feminist theory. Everyone’s like, “fuck the patriarchy,” but it’s so much deeper than that. Patriarchy is within the core of who you are, and there's a sense of resentment in finding out half of your core isn’t yours. That's just a shocking feeling as a young woman. I wanted to capture the nuance of that.
L’O: As someone who came of age in the spotlight, you probably have quite a bit of source material.
GV: I'm very inspired by my personal story. I've been able to analyze that to such an exaggerated extent. I wanted to feel valuable. I wanted to make people proud of me because when I do that, I get affirmed. Another aspect of it is racing to adulthood. I think “golden children” would really be able to relate to it. You’re holding this adult baggage and then being commended for it, so you're like, This is my role. This is what makes me good. You know? Then you're an adult, but that's the role you’ve built your entire value and identity on. You end up asking yourself: What am I worth?
HAIR: Ledora using R+CO MAKEUP: Brigitte Reiss-Andersen A-FRAME AGENCY
PHOTO ASSISTANTS: Sidney Quinn and Trisha Harmsen STYLING ASSISTANT: Paul Burgo
