“We would joke all the time about Oscars,” smiles the now- ancient 11-year-old. “Jamie would say, ‘You were nominated, but you didn’t win — I won!’ He’d be like, ‘You’ll get one soon. Just let the older people win for a while’.”

One suspects, however, that a little gold man might be in Wallis’ future given her undeniably prodigious talent. (She was just five when she auditioned for the role of Hushpuppy, a girl struggling to care for her dying father, in Beasts Of the Southern Wild. At the time, Wallis told producers that she was six so she would be allowed to audition, even though she couldn’t read the script.)

ANNIE: Gets a fresh, big-screen makeover

Natural talent ... Quvenzhane Wallis stars in the movie Annie. Source: Supplied

“I was so impressed with her,” says Foxx. “She’s just a natural performer. She’s quite unbelievable, really. You look at her and go, ‘What the hell was I doing at her age?’ And the answer is, probably not much.”

Wallis, of course, is the latest actor to take on the iconic role of little orphan Annie, a role made famous in the 1982 film by Eileen Quinn. (In the latest incarnation of the story, Annie is no longer in an orphanage, but in foster care under the inebriated eye of Cameron Diaz’s bitter, failed pop star, Miss Hannigan).

Wallis says that she had seen the 1982 film “like, a million times”, and was “really excited” about taking on the role.

“When I heard that I got the part, I was excited because I would get to sing and dance,” she says, giggling. “I’ve never done that in a film before, but it’s something that I do at home with my brothers and sister, and I really love it.”

On set ... Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), with Annie (Quvenzhane Wallis). Source: Supplied

In the new film, Foxx plays Will Stacks (an updated version of Daddy Warbucks), who’s made his billion-dollar fortune in mobile phones, but is — predictably — disconnected from real life and love. (In the 1982 film, Warbucks had an assistant. This time around he has a Senior Vice President, played by Rose Byrne.)

Director Will Gluck says that Foxx and Wallis would spend much of their time together on the film’s New York set, even when the cameras weren’t turned on.

“I think he felt very paternal towards her, and so they spent a lot of time together on set,” says Gluck, who adds that Foxx’s two daughters would often be around, too. “There were moments when the cameras weren’t rolling and Jamie and Quvenzhane would go off way down the street by themselves, and they’d just hang out and talk. Jamie acted as a director for her a lot.”

For her part, Wallis says that Foxx has become something of a mentor.

“It was really fun working with him — he’s really nice and awesome in every way possible. Like, if I’m sad I can just call him up, and he makes me happy again.”

Close bond ... Quvenzhane Wallis and Jamie Foxx in Annie. Source: Supplied

Indeed, in the US, much has been made about the fact that Annie and Will Stacks are being played by African-American actors. Gluck says that he never set out with the intention of casting the roles one race or another.

“When we were casting this, people always ask, ‘Did you want to make it an African-American Annie?’ But we didn’t at all. When we started looking for Annie, we looked for everybody,” Gluck says, explaining that his main goal was to introduce Annie’s story to a new generation of moviegoers.

“Every character in this movie really was cast race-blind. It didn’t matter. And the funny thing about that is, when they ask parents after the movie, parents always mention race, not one kid ever notices it or talks about it.”

Gluck says that he was more concerned about not “ruining the story’s message”.

Family fun ... a scene from the movie Annie. Source: Supplied

“Our biggest challenge was we didn’t want people to come with too many expectations and thinking that we were taking it away from what it was because we really aren’t,” he says. “The story is very much the same — it’s in its DNA. We’ve just made it a little bit different.”

Gluck says that when casting his Annie, Wallis’ phenomenal performance in Beasts Of the Southern Wild sealed the deal.

“How many times do you say there’s a nine-year-old girl who’s just been nominated for an Oscar for acting? You’re looking for a nine or 10 year-old girl who can act and sing and dance, and she was literally dropped into our laps. It’s also the reason that we started making it right because we got her at the exact right time.”

A bright future ... Quvenzhane Wallis in a scene from the movie Annie. Source: Supplied

Indeed, given Wallis’ extraordinarily mature performances on screen (she says her mum — “my momager” — helps her pick out her roles), it’s very easy to forget that she is still just an 11-year-old girl who likes roller-skating, pizza, and hanging out with her friends. (Indeed, she’s more interested in scooping up as many mints as she can from the hotel room table in New York where we speak, than she is in answering questions from a boring, old, journalist. Fair enough, too.)

Wallis does admit that her life has changed since her Oscar nomination. “Not my real life, but in my acting life, of course, because people notice me a lot,” she says, shrugging. “Before they didn’t really see me, but now they notice me a lot.”

Wallis, though, has an unbelievably mature view when it comes to her job.

“What’s really fun about it is if it’s something that you love doing, you really appreciate it. And I appreciate everything,” she says, taking one last handful of mints, before going back to her extraordinary life.

Annie opens on December 18.