Quvenzhané Wallis was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the remake of Annie, and she had a real shot at winning it too. However, she lost out to Amy Adams who won for her role in the Tim Burton film Big Eyes. And to make matters (relatively) worse, comedian Ricky Gervais pulled a John Travolta and mispronounced her name when he was announcing the nominees! Gervais, who seemed to be a little tipsy, took to the stage with a drink in hand and his snarky humor going off on all cylinders.
After mispronouncing Wallis’ name, Gervais (who wasn’t aware of his error) quipped, “I’ve been practicing saying that last name so I don’t have a John Travolta moment.” He was referring to the viral video of Travolta introducing Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem” during the 2014 Academy Awards. Gervais added, “I still watch that every day on YouTube. It’s brilliant, eh? It’s just brilliant.”
Ricky Gervais Has A Travolta Moment Trying To Pronounce Quvenzhane Wallis #GoldenGlobes2015 http://t.co/koIvq0AuFw pic.twitter.com/7iZ2ljsE6C
— Yahoo Movies UK (@YahooMoviesUK) January 12, 2015
The comedian did apologize to Wallis though. In an interview during the Weinstein Company & Netflix Golden Globes After Party, he said, “I apologize to her and anyone else with that name. I did better than John Travolta, though, didn’t I? Gimme that! Nine out of 10?”
Wallis seems to be used to people mispronouncing her name all the time. The talented 11-year-old actress revealed to Mikey Glazer of The Wrap how to properly pronounce her name (Quvenzhane is pronounced “kwah-ven-zsa-nay”).
And despite the Golden Globe loss and the Ricky Gervais mishap, Wallis still charmed audiences and looked adorable while doing it as well. Wallis wore a custom-made dress from Armani Junior. The lilac-and-white dress matched perfectly with her cascading curls and pearl jewels. Wallis was recently tapped as the face of Armani Junior, Armani’s children’s clothing brand.
PHOTO: Actress Quvenzhane Wallis arrives at the 72nd #GoldenGlobes (via Reuters) pic.twitter.com/f9eWmCg7w4
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) January 12, 2015
Wallis received critical acclaim when she was five years old for role as Hushpuppy in the film Beasts of The Southern Wild.