Ziegler getting chance to walk the red carpet | Arts & Entertainment

Sussex County native Zoe Ziegler, who hit the big screen this year in the film “Janet Planet,” is now racking up nominations for national awards for the performance.

Ziegler, 12, made her film debut in the film this year. She recently found out she has been nominated for a number of awards for 2024:

• Critics Choice Award, Best Young Actor/Actress;

• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award, Best Female Youth Performance (Under 21);

• Washington, D.C., Area Film Critics, Best Youth Performance; and

• Seattle Film Critics Award, Best Youth Performance.

Historically, the Critics Choice Awards are considered the best predictor of Academy Award winners.

The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in United States and Canada. Its members include nearly 600 media critics and entertainment journalists. Ziegler was one of six young actors nominated in that category.

According to Ziegler’s mother, Carla Mansour, Ziegler is taking all the nominations in stride. Also an accomplished equestrienne, she is enjoying her horses even more now since the family moved to a Harrington farm a few months ago.

“In the past couple weeks, we’ve been getting emails” from the “Janet Planet” production company, A24, “about the nominations,” Mansour said. “I can’t even believe it. I cannot even believe it,” she said. “We’re so proud of her.”

“We’re kind of absorbing it,” Mansour said, adding that Ziegler’s reaction was, “like, ‘OK.’”

When Mansour told Ziegler she would need to go to California for the awards ceremony, “She was like, ‘Oh, man,’” her mom said with a laugh. “She asked me if she could wear a T-shirt and jeans.”

“I was trying to explain it to her,” Mansour said. “I didn’t really know how big it was either. I had to look it up.”

Since filming “Janet Planet” two summers ago, Ziegler has made two short films, “Second Bedroom” and “None the Wiser.” The latter role gave Ziegler the chance to be “the really crazy, hyper Zoe,” while her other roles have been much more subdued and subtle, Mansour said. “And she nailed it.”

In January, she has a Zoom call scheduled with a Disney casting representative, Mansour said. And in June, she has another call set up with Paramount TV. She has already had a Zoom meeting with someone from Steven Spielberg’s production company, Mansour said.

“It’s just crazy. And Zoe doesn’t really say much at all,” Ziegler’s mother said.

Her main focus, meanwhile, is keeping Ziegler grounded and happy.

“I just don’t want her to be upset” if she doesn’t win, said Mansour. “Because, holy cow, this is a massive accomplishment,” just to be nominated. “I told her, ‘You win, or you don’t win,’” Mansour said.

Either way, it will make for a memorable birthday week for Ziegler, who will turn 13 the day before the Critics Choice Awards ceremony. She could potentially rub elbows with some well-known actors and actresses who have also been nominated for their work in 2024, including Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for “Wicked,” Timothee Chalamet for “A Complete Unknown,” Daniel Craig for “Queer,” Hugh Grant for “Heretic,” Angelina Jolie for “Maria,” Demi Moore for “The Substance,” Denzel Washington for “Gladiator II” and Zoe Saldana for “Emilia Perez.”

Local fans will be able to watch the event live, as the Critics Choice Awards will be broadcast live on E! on Sunday, Jan. 12, from 7 to 10 p.m. from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. The show will be available to stream the following day on Peacock.