'A star is born': Actor Maisy Stella breaks through in 'My Old Ass'

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — "Who’s that girl?” was a common refrain from Sundance Film Festival goers walking out of “ My Old Ass ” in January.

The comedic and heartfelt coming of-age-film, in which a small town 18-year-old eager to leave for college is suddenly in conversation with her 39-year-old self (thank you, mushrooms), was one of the breakouts of a strong festival. It’s currently playing in select theaters, and will be in wide release on Sept. 27.

The girl in question is its vibrant star, Maisy Stella. It’s a name that will be familiar to some, for her years on the television series “Nashville” playing Daphne Conrad, for her viral video singing Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” with her sister, Lennon Stella (31 million views and counting), and for being someone Billie Eilish has said inspired her to start singing. But to a certain subset of cinephiles, Stella seemed like a complete discovery and an exciting one at that.

Both designations work, in a way. Stella is reintroducing herself in her first film role after taking a few years off to just be a normal teen. She started on “Nashville” when she was 8 years old. At 15, she took a break from acting.

“I went back to school and made sure my head was like nice and screwed on and just went to prom and did all that stuff,” Stella, now 20, said in an interview with director Megan Park earlier this year “The second I turned 18, I was just like, I missed it so much and found such a new appreciation for it.”

In “My Old Ass” she plays Elliott, a bisexual teen on a small cranberry farm in Canada who is ready for her life to start elsewhere. But her 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, tells her to slow down a bit, to appreciate the things around her in the moment and to stay away from a guy named Chad. It’s a part that many actors wanted.

“I think the best thing she ever did was take a break for a second after ‘Nashville’ and just, like, be a normal human,” Park said. “A lot of kids that have been acting from such a young age, that’s the only thing they know, and they don’t have as much life experience. And Elliott is just like a normal girl. Maisy has that perfect mix … she is one in a million.”

Park met Stella through their mutual friend Maddie Ziegler, who plays one of Elliott’s friends in the film.

“I think about her and Maddie and I’m like ‘so it was like two 8-year-old prodigies just hanging out,’” Park laughed. “You singing and her just chaîné-ing across the floor.”

Stella downplays this, as she does many things (we’ll get to Eilish later). She and Ziegler, the “Dance Moms” alum and Sia music video star, are just best friends. Their extracurricular talents don’t come up very often. But they do get to perform together in this movie, alongside Kerrice Brooks. Without spoiling too much, there is a bit of a dream sequence in which Elliott performs Justin Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl.” It’s a song that Stella suggested, and that Bieber and his camp had to approve.

“It was a big deal for our generation,” said Stella. “It like changed who I am today as a person.”

The film as a whole was a dream re-entry for Stella to work on material that she loved with a supportive group, including “Wednesday” actor Percy Hynes White and Plaza, who was only there for a few days but made a big impression.

“She’s the most legit and the most genuinely profound actor,” Stella said. “She genuinely taught me so much about how to be a good scene partner.”

Plaza would ask what she needed from the day and then afterward make sure to text and give her a boost, saying how well she had done.

“In future projects like I will take that with me and like always try to give other people what she gave to me,” Stella said. “It literally made the biggest difference.”

Both Park and Stella were overwhelmed by the response to the film at Sundance, where it was quickly acquired by Amazon MGM Studios (for a reported $15 million) for a theatrical release. Stella, too, was already fielding opportunities.

“Sundance changed me,” Stella said, a few months later. “The experience of it woke me up in such a crazy way… and auditioning for things feels a little bit more exciting when I feel like there’s a little bit more buzz or like there’s a little bit more of a chance that I will be like taken seriously.”

In the spring, she joined Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor in an ambitious (and top secret) film from Bad Robot, Warner Bros. and “It Follows” director David Robert Mitchell.

“I think this early on, getting to do two projects that are so opposite is like winning the lottery,” Stella said a few months later during production. “I am so aware of how special that is and getting to show any type of range is really exciting for me.”

None of this is surprising to Park, who knew she had a star on the rise.

“Maisie’s such the real deal,” Park said. “She’s been very patient and specific… I think everyone’s really excited to see, at least I’m excited to see your long career and what you choose to do, because you’ve been silently influencing so much of culture.”

Stella: “Oh my god.”

“Billie Eilish became a singer because of Maisy. I know this for a fact. Finneas confirmed it,” Park said.

“She would have done it with or without me. I’m not the reason for Billie Eilish… She is a genius,” Stella said.

Park: “I’m your hype woman.”

Stella: “You really are, to the point where I just sweat.”

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This story first ran on Jan. 24, 2024 as part of The Associated Press’s Sundance Film Festival coverage. It has been updated with details about its acquisition, release and Stella's new project.

Maisy Stella arrives at the premiere of "My Old Ass" at Tree People on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Megan Park, from left, Maisy Stella, and Margot Robbie arrive at the premiere of "My Old Ass" at Tree People on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Actor Maisy Stella attends a special screening of "My Old Ass" at The William Vale Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Actors Aubrey Plaza, left, and Maisy Stella, and director Megan Park attend a special screening of "My Old Ass" at The William Vale Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

This image released by Amazon shows Maisy Stella, left, and Aubrey Plaza in a scene from "My Old Ass." (Amazon via AP)

This image released by Amazon Studios shows Maisy Stella in a scene from "My Old Ass." (Amazon Studios via AP)

Maisy Stella poses for a portrait to promote her film "My Old Ass" during the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Maisy Stella poses for a portrait to promote her film "My Old Ass" during the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Maisy Stella poses for a portrait to promote her film "My Old Ass" during the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Maisy Stella poses for a portrait to promote her film "My Old Ass" during the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)