Maddie Ziegler on Zendaya’s Style, How Sia’s “Like Family” & Why Shia LaBeouf Makes Her Nervous

“Everyone says, ‘You’re going to get burnt out! You’re going to get sick of it!’ And I’m like, no because this is what I want to do,” says Maddie Ziegler on the set of her shoot for Yahoo Style. “Even though I want to act, I still want to be able to dance and have that as a backup career.”

At only 12 years old, Ziegler is firm in her boots (read: dancing shoes) about who she is, what she wants to do, and who she’s aspiring to be. In addition to affirming that Zendaya is one of her style icons—“She’s kind of tomboyish but girly at the same time.”— the young performer has already confirmed her love and passion for dance, and thankfully, hasn’t let being in the spotlight affect her self-image.

“I usually don’t have too much makeup on. I don’t want to look too old and too mature because I’m 12 years old,” Ziegler concedes.

It could be thanks to her role model, Sia. The award-winning singer/songwriter took Ziegler under her wing when she casted the Dance Moms star in three big-time music videos, which gave her the opportunity to dance on Saturday Night Live and at the Grammys.

“She’s down to earth and so sweet,” Ziegler says of the 39-year-old music legend. “She’s pretty much like my family now.”

And it’s because of said songstress that the pre-teen has shared the stage with some of Hollywood’s hottest personalities, like Shia LaBeouf and Kristen Wiig.

Like anyone else, Ziegler calls Wiig “funny” and “hilarious.” Of LaBeouf, though, the youngster admits that she was at first scared of him while on set for Chandelier. But it wasn’t because LaBeouf was a season actor, 16 years her senior.

“When we were getting ready for the video he was running in circles, doing pushups with his knuckles, and like hitting the cage and stuff,” Ziegler describes. “I was trying to talk to him and then I was like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to talk.’ I was literally scared! I was like, ‘Does he always do this? I was so nervous.”