Q:  So how was it working with great stars like Eva Marie Saint and Cicely Tyson?
A:  It was really amazing. They had so much to offer, and they really took me in as their, kind of, as their child or as their friend or as their granddaughter. And they told me stories about movies, other movies they had done, and childhood stories.

Q:  Did they give you acting lessons?
A:  Jeff – Jeff Daniels did. Just watching him, I got some tips, just ‘cause he’d close his eyes and really get into a scene for a couple minutes before the scene takes place. So I think I learned a couple things from him.

Q:  How did you approach your character, Opal?  Were there certain ways that you felt you were a lot like your character and some ways that you really had to stretch and become that different person?
A:  Well, I read the book, and I read the script. And then, I think I'm a lot like the character Opal, or I'd like to think that, anyway. Some of the crying scenes were a little tough because it was my first time crying, like, when Winn-Dixie was about to be taken away.  I had to cry for a day and a half, just solid.

Q:  How did you do that?
A:  I was isolated, basically. You just think of something really, really sad, and just go for it. And sometimes it doesn't work, and if you can't do it, just physically, if you do it and try and try and you do it, like, 50 times, but they have so many different angles that you just kind of get worn out that you WANT to cry, and so it just kind of comes out.

Q:  Do you have any particularly favorite animals? Are you a dog person or a cat person?
A:  I am.  My favorite animal is…I have a lot, but my main ones are dogs, frogs, little owls, and, um, let's see, and I like reptiles but not snakes. I like salamanders. I think they're cute.

Q:  In the film, your character's dad says that your character's mother didn't like being a preacher's wife. Do you think your character liked being a preacher's daughter?
A:  I think Opal knows what her daddy has to do, and she's okay with that, but she just wants him to recognize her more and spend more time with her, and talk to her. But me, personally, I think I might enjoy it.  I might.  But he cared too much about the other people and not enough about [Opal,] and I think that's what I'd kind of be worried about – that he'd be so busy making sure that everybody else in the church was okay, that he wouldn't want to spend time with me.

Q:  What about the way other people scrutinize Opal? It seemed like the boys actually mock you because you're a preacher's kid. That kind of attention, would that be a problem?
A:  I don't think so. They might, some mean kids, but I went to a Christian school, a private school, so I don't think they would.