In today's entertainment industry, few people have such a colorful career at such a young age as Maddie Ziegler.
At the age of 21 this year, she has already made remarkable achievements in many fields such as dance, acting, and writing. However, beneath this seemingly glorious surface, Ziegler's upbringing was fraught with challenges and self-exploration.
1 From a child star to an all-round artist
Maddie Ziegler's name evokes different memories on different platforms. On TikTok, you might see clips of her spinning wildly on the reality show "Dancing Mom" when she was a child; On YouTube, you might see her performing in a big cage or at the Grammys as singer Sia's muse as a teenager.
She is also a former best-selling author (writing fiction and non-fiction) and has recently made a name for herself in Hollywood, starring in the upcoming My Old Ass (2024) and the remake of Stephen Spielberg's West Side Story (2021). On social media, she has 13 million followers. Such a career is something to be proud of for anyone, but Ziegler is only 21 years old, and her career is just beginning.
"In many ways, I feel too old," Ziegler said with a hint of embarrassment... But it's a strange feeling because in many ways, I feel like I've accomplished more than I thought I'd at 21. I'm thinking, what now?
2 The price of growth
The weight of life never really seemed to be far away from Maddie Ziegler. Her life path has been shrouded in the high tension of dance since she was 4 years old.
At the age of 7, she took shortcuts on the national stage and became a blockbuster; At the age of 8, she became a breakthrough star in the reality show "Dancing Mom" with her extraordinary dancing skills and persistent fighting spirit. It's a pity that behind the camera, this energetic child on the stage is often full of tears and is in a state of anxiety.
This tremendous psychological pressure has led to many fragments of Ziegler's childhood memories being sealed forever. "It was a long and painful process of self-struggle," she says, "and I was an unusually strict and focused child, and I often went to extremes in my own demands.
On the one hand, I'm proud of my resilience because it's what makes me who I am today. But on the other hand, I often say to myself, relax, don't be so restrained, you will get through it. Not everything has to be perfect."
3 From dancer to actor
Ziegler's path as an actor stemmed from a seemingly fortuitous but fateful encounter. It was when she was 11 years old, when singer Sia was watching "Dancing Mom" and was so fascinated by the child's outstanding dancing and elf-like temperament that she reached out to her via Twitter and invited her to participate in her music video shoot.
In this way, Sia saw the young Ziegler as her "soul muse", and in the years that followed, she frequently asked the child to show her "inner child" side on stage.
Ziegler realized that this kind of stage performance was no longer a simple dance move, but a kind of whole-body "role substitution". "I'm not just rehearsing my dance steps, I'm more about incorporating a new character and acting as a completely different being." She recalled.
These valuable experiences eventually led to the Maddie Ziegler he is today. Although she is grateful for this, the fame at such a young age has also brought her a lot of growing pains. "As I started to reach puberty and started to show my feminine side, I found it hard to stop seeing me as that little girl." She said helplessly.
4 Female-led creative environment
The most striking feature of Ziegler's career is its distinctly feminist overtones. Her themes revolve around women and she is often a muse for prominent female artists. It is worth mentioning that in addition to working with Abby Lee Miller and singer Sia in "Dancing Mom", Ziegler also tends to choose female directors to collaborate in his acting career. This is especially valuable in an environment where opportunities for female filmmakers in Hollywood are scarce.
In recent years, Maddie Ziegler has had a striking feature in her career: she prefers to work with women. "For some reason, my main collaborators are female directors and cinematographers," says she herself, "and I don't have any complaints, but I'm really happy about it."
The most noteworthy is the 2020 film "The Fallout" that she collaborated with Canadian female director Megan Parker. This drama explores the psychological trauma of the victims of school shootings, and the crew presents this heavy topic from a thought-provoking perspective.
In the film, Ziegler and actress of the same age Jenna Ortiga (the two are already very good friends) play two young girls who have suffered tragedy. The superb acting skills of the two have won unanimous praise from critics.
5 Self-protection and friendship
Despite his thriving career, Ziegler also understands the importance of maintaining a balance in his life. "My most important goal for the next few years is to learn to relax myself."
The young diva admits that she is an "otaku" - rarely participates in social occasions, and more often stays at home. However, she also admits that it may just be a difference in generational habits or the impact of the pandemic.
Her closest friends were equally energetic girls her age: Jenna Ortiga, Addison Ray, Olivia Rodrigo, and her sister Mackenzie. These Hollywood rising stars, like Ziegler, are career-oriented "desperate three mothers". But no matter how busy they are at work, they will take the time to check each other about each other's current situation and care about each other like a family.
"We are very similar," Ziegler said self-deprecatingly, "and Jenna, for example, she is none of my best friends." Since we've been working together, she hasn't really taken a day off except for Christmas. We were 16 years old and now we're 21. She worked so hard, but she may have missed out on a lot of life experiences that she should have. But somehow, she still maintains the calmest, most sunny and most humble good character."
6 Future Prospects
Despite his impressive achievements, Ziegler did not stop there. "Of course, I hope that I can have more time to understand myself and explore my inner world outside of work." The young entertainer said. However, her career ambitions have not diminished in the slightest - so, as a girl who has been quite successful since childhood, where should she go in the future?
Ziegler pondered for a moment, and seemed to have some clues: "Returning to dancing is something I will definitely do." I also hope to have my own production company one day, and maybe try my hand at directing!"
She herself realized that her experience was long enough to write an autobiography. In fact, at the age of 12, she published a memoir called "Maddie's Diary".
"That book is interesting, but it's just the beginning of the story." "In the future, I hope to write a more honest and comprehensive version that tells the story of my upbringing, and the crazy events that I had to hide," Ziegler said.
7 Conclusion
Maddie Ziegler's story is not only the story of a successful child star who grows into an all-round artist, but also a profound exploration of self-awareness, growth and adaptation. Her experience reminds us that even in the seemingly glamorous entertainment industry, everyone is experiencing their own growing pains. Ziegler's candor and introspection provides us with a rare opportunity to reflect on what it really means to become famous, grow, and actualize ourselves. As she continues to explore and develop in her acting career, we look forward to seeing how this versatile young artist will continue to shape her future and bring a new perspective and impact to the entertainment industry."