Brooklynn Prince from 'Florida Project' Is Making Her Own Movie at Eight Years Old

The Florida Project, Sean Baker's gorgeous film about poverty in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom, was the single most glaring snub at the 2018 Oscars. It was completely absent from the Best Picture conversation (even though goddamn Darkest Hour was somehow in the running) and only landed one measly nomination for Willem Dafoe's supporting role. Sure, Dafoe was great in Florida Project because Dafoe is routinely great in all things, but he was nothing compared to the performance of someone significantly younger: the film's star, then-six-year-old Brooklynn Prince. Prince was fantastic every second she was on-screen, and in a more perfect world, she would've nabbed at least a Best Actress nom.

But it looks like Prince isn't satisfied with just being a brilliant child actress—the eight-year-old is trying her hand at directing, too.

On Thursday, Prince posted a string of photos from the set of her first short film, Colours, which she wrote, directed, and stars in—and the whole thing is simultaneously impressive, adorable, and guaranteed to send you into a deep existential spiral over how little you've done with your life.

"My dream of directing started on The Florida Project," Prince wrote in a photo caption. "I loved watching Sean work and was inspired by his patience, vision, and creativity. Since then my dream was to become one of the youngest directors of all time. Today my journey as a director begins. Thank you to my friend and mentor, Sean Baker for believing in me, and to the amazing crew and cast. I hope to make you all very proud. I can't wait for the world to see Colours."

On top of her new directing duties, Prince is on track to star in a mystery series for Apple's new streaming service and a film adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, along with lending her voice to the next Angry Birds movie. She also once floated the idea of running for president, which seems honestly pretty realistic, given everything else she's managed to accomplish.

Remember when you were eight and you and your friends borrowed a video camera that used those tiny VHS tapes and filmed a very shitty music video for "Willennium" or whatever? Yeah, well, we can't all be Brooklynn Prince. Just give her all the Oscars already so the rest of us can get back to squandering our mediocre and unproductive lives.

Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.