The Untold Truth Of Storm Reid

Storm Reid has been making meaningful movies since she was barely a decade old. She inspired audiences with roles in films like 12 Years a Slave, A Wrinkle in Time, and 2020's Invisible Man. With ample experience in motion pictures and television, Reid has branched out to use her voice and platform to have a positive impact on those around her, according to Teen Vogue. Yes, this actress is indeed taking Hollywood — and the world — by storm.

Born in Atlanta, the young celebrity calls herself a "Georgia Peach," as noted by Teen Vogue, and she maintains her Southern charm and manners despite Los Angeles' more jaded influence. What's more, she strives to balance her life as a rising star and a regular teenager. 

As a major talent with more meaty roles to come, Reid is certainly one to watch. But what is her life like in and out of the spotlight? This is the untold truth of Storm Reid.

According to Teen Vogue, when Storm Reid was just 3 years old, she approached her mother and matter-of-factly said, "I wanna be on TV, and I want to be a 'stuperstar.'" Call it the whims of a toddler, but Reid informed W magazine that it was divine intervention that motivated this moment of early clarity. "He had this plan for me," she told the publication. Despite her young age, Reid's mom took her daughter's ambitions seriously from the get go. After all, her young child could already "recite the entire dialogue of Matilda and Shrek," as reported by Refinery29.

A few years later, when Reid was 9 years old, she moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles with her mother and sister to pursue her passion, as noted by Teen Vogue. Reid's first feature film role was in 12 Years a Slave. And just like that, a "stuperstar" was born.

One of Storm Reid's first major feature film roles was that of Meg Murry in 2018's A Wrinkle in Time, which co-starred Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling. But the then-14-year-old actress did not get her first taste of this whimsical science fiction story when she got her hands on the movie script. In fact, the young actress actually read the original novel by Madeleine L'Engle for a fortuitous sixth grade book report, as reported by NPR. She didn't know at the time that this school assignment would foreshadow her big break in Hollywood.

Still, the image of Meg Murry that Reid conjured in her mind wasn't anything like the girl she saw in the mirror. She told NPR that she envisioned exactly what the book described — "a young Caucasian girl with freckles and wild, crazy hair." However, she explained that, once she saw the script, it all "clicked," and she was excited that African American girls would "be able to see themselves in the new Meg that we have."

Extravagant promoposals are all the rage among teenage lovebirds, but Storm Reid's sweet story takes the cake. According to Teen Vogue, Reid's actor-boyfriend Sayeed Shahidi (Yara Shahidi's younger brother) asked her to prom with an adorable DIY poster board sign that read, "Storms are rare in LA. I'm lucky I found one. Prom?"

"It caught me way off guard," Reid bashfully told Refinery29. She noted, "I couldn't stop smiling. I thought it was really sweet, but I also didn't know what was happening at the time. It was just a lot going on."

And this was not the famous duo's only school dance date night. In November of 2019, Reid posted a photo to Instagram of herself and Sayeed Shahidi heading to a homecoming event. "We're both graduating in a few months so this was our last homecoming together and I couldn't have asked for a better night," she said in the caption. Indeed, the adorable duo is growing up together in the spotlight, but they've also been trying to make the most of their time as normal high-school teenagers.

Storm Reid has a lot of Hollywood heavy-hitters pulling for her. While starring alongside Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, and Reese Witherspoon in A Wrinkle in Time, Reid not only gained A-list role models to look up to, but she also scored a few stellar friends. "I feel like those are the people who I'm closest to. And to just have them in my corner to be able to pour into me, and really guide me, and guide my career is amazing and it's a blessing," she told Today. Despite these tight relationships, Reid stays true to her Southern roots, and she's referred to her older friends with a respectful "Miss" in front of their respective first names. What's more, she also calls them all her "aunties," according to HelloGiggles.

Notably, Reid is also on an impressive text message group chat with her A Wrinkle in Time co-stars and the film's director, Ava DuVernay. "Oprah once sent us a Bitmoji of herself!" Reid revealed to Refinery29.

"I have a fear that I'm gonna be really tall," Storm Reid told Bustle in 2018. 

In a different interview, she explained to NPR that her father and sisters are both very tall and she wasn't sure she would be able to pull off a long-legged look without feeling lanky or awkward. Fortunately, Reid had the ultimate cheerleader in her A Wrinkle in Time co-star Oprah Winfrey of all people to give her some stellar advice and help her feel at peace with this genetic possibility. She recounted Winfrey's sage words for Bustle, saying, "You can't put energy into trying to resist something in life. You have to put that energy into something else, 'cause God has planned for you what he's planned for you, and you can't change that." Reid elaborated that she used this piece of Winfrey wisdom as confidence-building motivation on set and beyond. 

Oprah Winfrey definitely thinks highly of Reid as well. She likened Storm to Judy Garland, and told Essence (via Just Jared) that the young actress is a "light" for girls her age.

Storm Reid makes it her mission to be a role model for her generation. She and her mother, Robyn Simpson, launched the #Bamazing campaign in 2018, to inspire the youth of today to love themselves, according to PopSugar. The official Bamazing Instagram profile notes that it seeks to help girls "nurture their inner light through self-love."

"It's empowering young people — specifically, young girls — through positive self-declarations... They can be perfectly imperfect," Reid told PopSugar. As an actress and a teenager, Reid knows that societal expectations can often make girls feel inadequate or unworthy, and she wants them to feel comfortable in their own skin and "know that they can be themselves."

Additionally, per PopSugar, Reid partnered with Children Mending Hearts, an anti-bullying nonprofit that seeks to teach kids about empathy. "I've never been a person to not stand up for what I believe in, and this is a way to stand up for people," she told the site.

In the 2019 television mini-series When They See Us, Storm Reid portrayed the girlfriend of an African American young man who was wrongly accused of raping a white woman in the 1989 "Central Park Five" case. Reid's HBO show Euphoria, in part, centers around the opioid crisis. Suffice to say, Reid does not back away from serious subject matters. And she embraces strong stances in her public life as well. She is not afraid to speak up about "equal rights, the pay gap," and more according to an article in Teen Vogue.

She talked to PopSugar about her perspective, saying, "I just get so inspired by young people taking on the future themselves and it's kind of an attitude of leadership I think as opposed to waiting for people to do things for you." Furthermore, she believes that "tough conversations" are a necessary means "to acknowledge what goes on in the world" and find ways to incite change. 

Still, despite her strong beliefs, she is humble and always learning. "I'm not really comfortable yet calling myself an activist, so I like calling myself an active-learner, active-thinker, active-listener," Storm told Teen Vogue.

With an astounding 1 million Instagram followers, Storm Reid is familiar with the pros and cons of life on social media, and she is no stranger to the platform's darker side. As a fashion lover, Reid likes to take sartorial risks, and the Instagram community can be opinionated at best, downright nasty at its worst. "It's so important to dress for yourself, but still the comments section on Instagram can be a very dangerous place," she told InStyle.

Still, Reid is never shy about sharing a fabulous look on her feed. She has published photos of herself wearing pieces by Marc Jacobs, Adeam, and more. But beyond posting glamour shots, she uses her reach to inspire and educate followers. In addition to promoting her #Bamazing campaign, the actress gives glimpses of her everyday life on Instagram, showing herself working out and eating sweets.

Growing up is hard to do, but Storm Reid is living those awkward adolescent years with grace — in the public eye, no less. Despite her maturity, Reid has her own collection of cringe-inducing stories to share. She told Seventeen that she does "get embarrassed easily." In a YouTube video for the publication, she dished on everything from her awkward first kiss (it was on screen!) to her most embarrassing celebrity encounters (Zendaya and Oprah Winfrey).

But most relatable of all? She relayed an anecdote about menstruating while filming reshoots for A Wrinkle in Time. She ran off set after finding out she had period stains on her pants, and was mortified thinking that everyone she was working with — including a lot of extras — noticed her fashion-meets-period faux pas. "I was just devastated, but I got through it," she said.  

Reid also talked about her close relationship with her parents, but she admitted in typical teenage fashion that her mother enjoys watching her squirm: "I think my mom tries to make it a point to embarrass me in front of my friends."

According to Refinery29, Storm Reid is known as "little sis" to many of her slightly older African American Hollywood contemporaries, including Logan Browning, Yara Shahidi, Kiki Layne, Michael B. Jordan, and Zendaya. "We're able to fight the good fight and not only lift each other up and empower each other but try to give each other opportunities." 

If you had told a young Reid that Disney Channel star Zendaya would eventually become her chosen "family," she'd probably would not have believed it. That's likely because, like other girls her age, Reid presumably watched and admired Zendaya on the Disney Channel when she was growing up. "She's been my idol for the longest time. She's just the coolest person," she told Elite Daily. 

Now the two star alongside one another on HBO's Euphoria, a show about the real and raw lives of high schoolers in which Reid plays Zendaya's younger sibling, Gia.

In an interview with E! News at the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Storm Reid got real about her hesitance to get behind the wheel as a new driver. "I want to just be really good before I get out on the roads," she shared. "L.A. drivers are wild, and I'm from Atlanta, so even though we have a lot of traffic and a lot of people there, they're more — I would say they're better drivers."

Learning the rules of the road isn't the only thing that makes Reid a super relatable regular teenage girl. She took Teen Vogue through a typical day in her hometown of Atlanta, noting that she'd "go to Waffle House," an establishment that's not in Los Angeles, before then heading to the mall. "But we're kind of growing out of just hanging around the mall, I think?" she noted, admitting, "I still like to do it."

While Storm Reid is far from a wallflower, the fashion-loving actress also relishes her not-so-dressed-up downtime. "I like being at home — so, like, getting snacks, watching movies or television shows," she told Today's Savannah Guthrie when asked about her favorite date activity. But what snacks does Reid turn to when she's in need of a little treat? "I'm a cookie girl. They were in my trailer, at the catering table [for A Wrinkle in Time] — everywhere! My favorite are mint Oreos, which nobody in my family likes — so I get to keep them all for myself," she told O Magazine. 

Perhaps not having to fight over beloved mint Oreos with family members is the key to her strong familial relationships. Reid also told Today that her family is the one thing that makes her always smile. In an interview with W magazine, she said, "I spend time with my friends and family to stay grounded," adding, "They just love Storm for Storm." 

While Storm Reid points to her mother as her ultimate idol, the young star opened up about having an iconic celebrity role model: "Miss Beyoncé." She recalled meeting the A-lister at the NAACP awards during a 2020 interview on The View. She wanted to approach Beyoncé, but was hesitant to interrupt her mid-conversation. So, she waited quietly for an opening when the triple-threat superstar spotted her and stopped in her tracks. "Oh my girl — we love you," Reid reported Beyoncé as saying. Reid admitted that she almost passed out upon hearing those words come out of Queen Bey's mouth. 

Later, Beyoncé sent Reid one of her Insta-famous boxes of Ivy Park workout gear. "I was so grateful," Reid said on The View. She admitted she had been scanning Instagram daily, hoping that she would be on the receiving end of one of those oversized orange crates. Reid was excited to post an Instagram video of herself exercising in the apparel. In the caption, she wrote, "Somebody had to ACTUALLY WORKOUT out in this gear... so boom."

Storm Reid managed to snag a role in the much-anticipated superhero sequel Suicide Squad 2. With specific plot lines of the James Gunn-directed film being kept tightly under wraps, there is little known about Reid's role at the time of this writing. But it has been revealed that she plays the daughter of Idris Elba's character, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

We may not yet know if her Suicide Squad alter ego will have superpowers, but we do know that the actress aspires to one day play a character that does. "Yes, I want to be a superhero! ... I want to be a dramatic superhero," she told Collider in 2018. But if the actress could take on a superhero power in real life, she'd have a hard time choosing just one. "That's a lot of pressure because I'd want to have a little bit of everything," she told The Hollywood Reporter.