Young star tells of Oscar bid 'fun'

The latest child star of the silver screen has said it is "fun and cool and different" to be hotly tipped for an Oscar nod.

Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis stars in the highly acclaimed Beasts Of The Southern Wild, and appears to be coping magnificently with being thrust into the limelight as the latest one to watch.

Speaking on the red carpet at the film's screening at the BFI London Film Festival, the young actress posed for photographers in a blue frilly dress with her hair in a top knot, and seemed pleased at the Oscar whispers.

"It's fun and cool and different," she said.

Demand for Wallis was high, and she carried out a number of interviews before putting on an anorak to shut out the October cold. She expresses her delight when journalists come up with new questions.

"Over and over again, and keeping doing it... it's kind of cool to hear different questions," she said.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild took the Camera d'Or award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival, but is not the only big film Wallis has worked on.

She has a role in Twelve Years A Slave, starring Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch, and she says they were "cool" to work with. "It was cool and fun because they go with the flow and they just keep going. They never, ever leave it. They keep going with it and stay put," she said.

Despite her rising celebrity, Wallis says she does not see herself pursuing an acting career into adulthood. "Not really, because you can't keep going on, you never know, but I'll keep trying," she said.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild is released in the UK on October 19.