GRACE

VANDERWAAL IS STILL JUST FIGURING LIFE OUT

- AMANDA MONTELL

“I actually never dreamed of being a singer. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an actress,” confesses Grace VanderWaal with a sprightly twinkle in her eye. “I would sit in the mirror for hours, fake-crying, doing scenes and talking to myself. I was a strange little girl. But acting was really my dream.”

This is the first confession that the 16-year-old music wunderkind, winner of America’s Got Talent and Billboard’s Women in Music Rising Star Award, shares in our interview.

Now, it seems like Grace’s dream is coming true. Not only did she recently land her first-ever acting gig—but it was a major one, too. Grace’s turn as Susan “Stargirl” Caraway in Disney+’s original movie (streaming March 13) began gaining major buzz as soon as the trailer dropped, with fans swooning over her multidimensional talent. (“God, she really can do everything, can’t she?” one YouTube commenter posted.)

But that’s just the whimsical magic of the “Moonlight” and “I Don’t Know My Name” singer. Just when you think you’ve figured her out, she’s got a new trick up her sleeve.

After all, with her big AGT win in 2016, everyone expected Grace to become the next Taylor Swift—a traditional popstar with all the mainstream fixings.

Instead, she wrote the offbeat, futuristic, often dark songs that she wanted to write, even if she knew they might not get radio play.

And while other teens in the spotlight embraced the VSCO girl aesthetic, Grace did her own thing, experimenting with colorful, alien-esque makeup (using eyeshadow as lipstick is one of her fave beauty hacks) and growing out two long, elfen braids on either side of her signature bob.