Maddie Ziegler, the eternal star who’s practically been in the limelight since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, has braved more auditions than a squirrel on a caffeine bender. But hold onto your sequined hats, ’cause she’s got a story to share!
So, there she was, strutting her stuff on EW’s Breaking Big panel at the 2023 SCAD Savannah Film Festival, when someone asked her to spill the beans about her all-time worst audition. Now, I’m sure you’re expecting a tale of unmitigated disaster, but Maddie’s a pro, and even her worst day at the office is, well, not terrible.
Picture this: Maddie’s juggling her acting gigs and moonwalking with Sia, and she stumbles into an audition that could have come straight from a horror movie. There’s this casting director, right? The kind of casting director who could make a stone statue break into a sweat just by glancing in its direction. Maddie, bless her heart, is about to dive headfirst into this madness after two nights of rocking out with Sia at the Hollywood Bowl. Yeah, no big deal, just your average day at the office for Maddie.
But this casting director pulls a sneaky move โ they drop the bombshell that they’d seen Maddie on stage at the concert the night before. As if auditions weren’t nerve-wracking enough! With a glint in her eye, the casting director says, “I actually just watched you perform at the Hollywood Bowl last night, so don’t mess it up,” via EW.
Maddie’s mind went on vacation without her consent because she was 14, and “scary casting director” plus “nervous teenager” equals disaster waiting to happen. In that split second, Maddie’s brain took a coffee break, and she was left staring at the casting director, clutching nothing but thin air. She stuttered, “I am so sorry,” with all the grace of a clumsy flamingo, and the casting director took pity on her, handing her the script pages she should’ve had at the ready. The embarrassment was probably enough to power a rocket to the moon!
Maddie, ever the trouper, called the experience “a little intimidating,” but she also pointed out that it’s a rite of passage in the entertainment industry. You see, folks in showbiz like to throw curveballs at you to see if you’re made of stardust and resilience. In that particular moment, Maddie crumbled like a week-old cookie, and she’s the first to admit it. Hey, who can blame her? We’d probably turn into a human-shaped puddle if we had someone breathing down our necks like that too!
