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BOUNTIFUL — When the book “Wonderstruck” first came out, 13-year-old Millie Simmonds immediately read it.
The highly praised book by author Brian Selznick, who also wrote “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” masterfully weaves together the story of two deaf children searching for answers in different decades. Now, it’s set to become a movie starring Julianne Moore — with Millie cast as the younger version of the same lead role.
“(Millie) keeps saying, ‘I don’t want to go to sleep because I feel like tomorrow this isn’t going to be real,’” said her mother, Emily Simmonds.
When open casting was announced for the role, Millie’s former drama teacher from the Jean Massieu School of the Deaf forwarded the notice to her mom and said she needed to promise Millie would try out. Just before the deadline, Millie and her mom recorded a few scenes and sent them in.
Much to their surprise, the Simmonds learned that with over 250 tapes submitted, Millie had made it to the second round. They traveled to New York City in the middle of March for in-person auditions.
“They called us on the way to the airport to go home and said, ‘We can’t wait to tell her this,’” Emily Simmonds said. “They FaceTimed us, so they videoed her over FaceTime telling her she got it. They just held up a little sign saying ‘You’re Rose!’ and we both just kind of lost it in the airport. It has kind of been a whirlwind since then.’”
The Simmonds have already made several trips to New York City and Los Angeles to prepare for the movie, which is slated to start filming on May 4. Millie will be moving to New York City with her mom and twin 2-year-old sisters for two or three months during the project. ASL interpreters will be on set to help with filming and the movie studio is making arrangements for Millie to have a tutor on set for May, since she will be missing school.
“Wonderstruck” will be Millie’s first big acting role. She was in a drama club at her deaf school and performed at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, but her only film experience was for a short created by a deaf student called “Color the World.”
Emily Simmonds said the experience for the movie has been surreal so far for both of them. Millie was recently dressed by Sandy Powell — who won three Oscars for costume design and worked on movies like “Cinderella” and “Gangs of New York” — on a trip to L.A.
“Millie just looked at me and she’s like, ‘I just don’t feel like this is real life.’ And I’m like, ‘I know. It’s not,’” Emily Simmonds laughed. “It has been really exciting for her and kind of surreal for all of us. There is no one more deserving than this girl, but again that’s coming from her mom.”
Millie is especially excited for her role in “Wonderstruck” because she feels she can be a huge advocate for the deaf community through the film. She believes every hearing person should read the book so they can understand how difficult life can be for deaf people when they can’t communicate with others.
“I love being deaf,” Millie signed, with her mom interpreting. “Because silence is beautiful and peaceful and ASL is a beautiful language. I think hearing parents should learn sign for their deaf kids.”
There is currently a lot of debate over whether parents should learn sign language if they have a deaf child, according to Emily Simmonds. She said many decide not to learn the language due to misinformation.
“A lot of (Millie’s) friends at the deaf school would go home and they couldn’t communicate with anybody,” she said. “They’d go home and play Xbox for the rest of the day and then they’d show up to school and communicate. So she has seen firsthand the frustrations some of her friends had not being able to communicate with their families. I think that’s why she feels so passionate about this.”
Millie started attending a deaf school when she was 3, but decided to transfer to a mainstream school after finishing sixth grade. She told her mom that she thought if hearing kids saw her sign during the day, they would want to learn ASL. She enrolled at Mueller Park Junior High School in the fall of 2015.
“The kids are dolls,” Emily Simmonds said. “They’ve been so sweet to her, and it’s just so nice with technology these days because the kids can go home and go on YouTube and look up ‘my name is’ and learn how to finger-spell their names. She came home every day saying, ‘I made a new friend. Someone else came up to me and introduced themselves.’ It was just neat.”
Both Millie and her mother believe “Wonderstruck” is an important story for the deaf community. The book’s author, Selznick, wrote the screenplay for Amazon Studios. It is being directed by Todd Haynes, who previously directed “Carol.”
