“I’m over bringing up things that happened over 10 years ago,” says Maddie Ziegler, referring to a childhood in Pittsburgh captured on the popular reality-television show Dance Moms, about a group of young competitive dancers, their overbearing mothers, and a notoriously nasty coach: Abby Lee Miller. From its premiere, in 2011, when Ziegler was only eight, it was clear that she had enormous talent, causing Miller to favor her and the rest of the cast to view her as an ambitious, tightly wound, and even sometimes spoiled rival.
Now 21, Ziegler is re-inventing herself, creating distance from the childhood image that has long defined her. She has turned her sights from dancing to acting, thoughtfully selecting the roles that speak to her, starring in an Acne Studios campaign (“They have such a youthfulness to them,” she says about the brand; “I feel like I’m gonna wear them until I’m 70 years old”), and interacting with her 13.5 million Instagram followers, who know her as an approachable and friendly figure. And, yesterday, her latest project, My Old Ass, a feature film directed by Megan Park and starring Aubrey Plaza, premiered.
This creative freedom has been years in the making, and, Ziegler will tell you, she has Sia to thank for her second act. In 2014, the Australian singer cast an 11-year-old Ziegler to dance in a music video for her hit song “Chandelier.” Fresh-faced and dressed only in a Sia-like blond wig and nude bodysuit, Ziegler twirls through a stark, cell-like apartment with an animalistic intensity, marking a departure from the pageant-style costumes and plastered smile of her dance-competition days.
Ziegler danced with Sia for six years, even touring with her while being home-schooled. “She saved me,” Ziegler told the model Emily Ratajkowski in a recent interview. She left Dance Moms in 2016, alongside her little sister, Mackenzie, who was also on the show.
Her acting career took off in 2021, when she played in both Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story and the teen drama The Fallout, starring alongside Jenna Ortega. “Acting is truly an escape for me,” she says. “Moving through my body … was my way of letting go.” She adds, “And now I’m able to translate that to my voice.”
Ziegler’s largest role was in the 2023 semi-autobiographical film by Molly McGlynn, Fitting In, in which she starred as Lindy, a teenage girl who is diagnosed with MRKH syndrome, a rare congenital disorder affecting women. Ziegler walked into her first meeting with McGlynn with wet hair and untied shoes—a stark contrast to her usual polished look. To her surprise, this is exactly what got her the part. “Molly told me that as soon as I walked in … she was like, ‘Oh, that’s Lindy.’”
Both The Fallout and Fitting In helped Ziegler define what she seeks in a project. She is drawn to drama, coming-of-age stories, comedy, and psychological thrillers, but what matters most to her is a deep connection with her character. “If by the end I want to hug her, protect her, and love her, then I know that that’s the right role for me,” she says. This instinct to protect is unsurprising given her own past, where she was often left without the support of the media, her coach, or her peers.
“Coming out of such an intense role from Fitting In, it was nice to step into this next film and just really have fun,” says Ziegler, who joined the cast of My Old Ass as a supporting character two weeks before production began. And now, having firmly established herself in Hollywood, she is finally ready to re-introduce dance into her projects. Two weeks ago, she announced her role in Ballerina Overdrive, alongside Avantika Vandanapu and Uma Thurman.
As for her mom, Melissa Gisoni? When she turned 18, Ziegler told her, “I really just want you to be my mom now.” Gisoni has since traded managing her daughters’ careers for baking sourdough bread. “It’s made our relationship so much better because now we can just have fun together,” Ziegler says.
My Old Ass is in theaters now
Jeanne Malle is an Associate Editor at AIR MAIL
