A lot of time has passed since Quvenzhané Wallis’ breakout role in a hit movie, and made history in the process. 

In 2012, she starred in the acclaimed film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" as Hushpuppy, a young girl who lives along a bayou with her father, who is facing intense health complications. That role led to Wallis receiving an Oscar nomination and breaking records by becoming the youngest person ever to do so. Now, at age 20, Wallis is all grown up, but people hardly recognize her. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, she explained that she often encounters people who are shocked to see how much she has changed. 

“When people see me, it doesn't register that that was me. I get this all the time: ‘You look so familiar. I feel like I know you from somewhere."'

Instead of helping solve the mystery, she plays right along.

“I'm like, ‘I couldn't tell you,'" she laughed. “When they do recognize me, it's like, ‘Oh, my God, you look so different now!’ And I'm like, ‘Yeah, I grew up."'

Wallis, who has since starred in "Annie," alongside Jamie Foxx, "Swagger,"  and "Breathe," credits her mom for helping her navigate the Hollywood scene as a child actor.

“She's my guardian angel,” she told the outlet of her mother. “If I didn't have her, I don't know where I would be. When I first started, she was a teacher, and she dropped all of that to travel with me and work with me, and neither of us had any idea what we were doing.”

While experiencing a “hiatus of not really working,” she later became a children's book author. Along her journey, she's gained wisdom that some child actors might find helpful.

“Don't let the ‘nos’ deter you. It was five years of hearing, ‘No, you don't fit this,’ over and over again, and I lost myself in that. That would just be my advice to anyone: Don't let [that] deter you… Just keep going forward and follow through with your passion.”