Maisy Stella talks childhood fame and 'true love' of acting

At the age of 20, being a rising star is old news for Maisy Stella.

Stella first came to attention when she was 8 years old in a viral video of her singing Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” alongside her older sister Lennon – before social media was even a thing – and the siblings hung out for six seasons to star in the ABC country drama series “Nashville.” Now she’s back in the spotlight with a breakout role in the coming-of-age dramedy “My Old Ass” (now in theaters).

“I had so many people come up to me and say, ‘That’s so weird.’ “I feel like I grew up with you,” Stella says. “I always think that’s really nice.”

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Former "Nashville" Star Maisy Stella plays a groundbreaking role in "My old ass."

“My Old Ass” stars Stella Elliott, a teenager who celebrates her 18th birthday, trips on mushrooms and meets her 39-year-old self (played by Aubrey Plaza). They help each other sort things out emotionally while young Elliott navigates a summer full of family, romance and future planning.

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Here’s what you need to know about Stella, whether you’re an old or new fan:

“My Old Ass” was an acting comeback right in Maisy Stella’s wheelhouse

For her 18th birthday, Elliott (Maisy Stella, center) goes out for mushroom dinner with her best friends Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler). "My old ass."

Stella considers herself “a clinically nostalgic person,” so the premise of “My Old Ass” hit right at her heart. Meanwhile, writer/director Megan Park has been a Maisy fan for some time. Stella auditioned for Park’s first directorial effort, 2022’s “The Fallout,” but “wasn’t suited for anything in that film,” Park says. The director included a song by Stella and her sister in the “Fallout” credits and had her “in mind” when writing “My Old Ass”: “She has such a zest for life and a twinkle in her eye.”

Stella felt connected to the family aspect of the film, particularly in how young Elliott initially focused on her friends rather than her parents and brothers. However, she also resembles the older Elliott in that she feels she can learn a lot from her younger self. “I just never thought about being noticed or how I looked. This is the best part of childhood and the hardest part of being a young girl in the industry,” says Stella. “I think she would remind me of all those things.”

As a “Nashville” star, Maisy Stella sang for Taylor Swift, but acting was her first love

Stella and her sister carved out remarkable careers on “Nashville” as Daphne and Maddie Conrad, the talented daughters of country music icon Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton). They had hit singles, wrote a children’s book and even sang Taylor Swift’s song “You Belong With Me” in front of a beaming Swift at the 2013 CMA Awards. “I was a wonderfully clueless kid who just enjoyed everything,” recalls Stella, who, according to Park, “was a very early inspiration for Billie Eilish to become a musician.”

The siblings’ parents were a popular Canadian duo called The Stellas, but Maisy Stella says she was more “obsessed” with being a movie star. “Lennon made a television out of cardboard that I climbed into and she had a fake remote and that was our game,” she says. “She flipped the channels and I played different genres.”

Her “true true love” for acting came when she took a break from it after “Nashville” ended in 2018. Three years ago, “I was unbearably ready and really felt like I definitely missed it,” she says. Now she no longer makes music with her sister, who is currently working on an album, although “I hope to score a film at some point. I would like to do that.”

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Stella already has another big project on the calendar: She’s playing the lead role in the science fiction film “Flowervale Street” (in theaters May 16th) directed by David Robert Mitchell (“It Follows”), which also stars Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway star. “Annie made sure I had electrolytes in my water at all times, and she was just so motherly and warm,” says Stella. “It was such a big jump. And in a lot of ways I was like, “Oh, I’m not ready for this.” ”

Maisy Stella talks childhood fame and ‘true love’ of acting

“My Old Ass” was an acting comeback right in Maisy Stella’s wheelhouse

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