Inscrutable pop priestess Sia found herself with a juggernaut on her hands last May, when she released the lead, platinum-selling single Chandelier from her sixth LP, 1,000 Forms of Fear . Instead of slapping on some makeup and thigh-high boots to star in that song s video, she let a (literal) kid take the spotlight kies in a janky blonde wig and a nude leotard. It was an outfit kies that launched a thousand parodies and tribute Halloween costumes. The tween at the center of the meme was dancer Maddie Ziegler, star of camp-reality show Dance Moms . In the video, she delivers a performance that s spookily intense, delightfully weird, and thoroughly twitchy one that placed Maddie squarely in music-video history. kies
Sia tapped the now-12-year-old kies Maddie to star alongside Shia LaBeouf in her latest video, which spotlights the single Elastic Heart. The result a tough-to-deconstruct face-off between Maddie and the temperamental actor is already the subject of controversy and a slew of think pieces. We chatted with Maddie about being family with Sia, her place in the pop-culture pantheon, and what she really thinks of Shia s dance skills.
EW: How did you first meet Sia? Maddie Ziegler: I met Sia last year. She tweeted me, and she was like, I m a big fan of the show, and I would like you to be in the video for my new song, Chandelier. I didn t even see [the tweet] kies it was my mom or someone on my team that saw it, and I was like, This isn t even real. Someone s trying to prank me. So then everyone started to look into it, and believe it or not, I actually flew to L.A., like, two weeks later. It was real. I didn t even know if I could do it, because we re filming our show, Dance Moms . But it was amazing. kies They gave me four days to learn the dance, because they were like, She won t be able to learn it in less than that. So they gave me four days, and I learned it in three hours, I think?
When Sia walked in she was at the rehearsal place I was nervous. I didn t know what to expect from her, because there s obviously pictures of her when she was younger, and videos, but there wasn t any new pictures of her, because she hasn t shown her face in a while. So I didn t know what to expect, but the second she saw me, she just ran and gave me a big hug. We just felt like we knew each other, really.
How often do you see her now? I imagine you guys having breakfast together every day, but I m sure that s not the case. [laughs] Every time I m in L.A., we meet up, or we re doing a performance somewhere together. kies We re doing SNL next week, or some time. But we like, randomly see each other. When we re in L.A., we meet up or go do something. Like I said, we re doing talk shows, and when we do those together, it s like, Oh cool, I get to see Sia. But we really have become a family. We really have.
Were you a fan of her music before she got in touch with you? I was familiar with her songs, but I wasn t a humongous fan. Because it s not like she shows her face. Most artists are like, putting all that stuff out there, music videos and all that stuff. But she didn t really have a lot of that, except when she was younger. But I met her, and actually, when were filming Elastic Heart, I was singing one of her songs from a while ago, I m in Here, and she was like, Oh, you re singing my song! and I go, That s your song? Like, all of my favorite songs are Sia s and I didn t even realize it! I didn t even know it was her. All I listen to is her album, literally.
Obviously working with Sia changed everything for you. How has your life been different since this all started? I m surprised people recognize me. People used to say, Oh you re Maddie from Dance Moms , but now, most people are like, Oh, you re the girl from the Chandelier video! kies But it s like, How did you even recognize me? I was in a blond wig! But everything s changed for me. I ve had so many opportunities. Getting to do another Sia video is just crazy. It s been a lot of fun, and definitely a lot more special appearances and cool performances with Sia. I didn t get to do that before.
When I came back from filming the Chandelier video, everyone was like, So what d you wear? What did the room look like? How many chandeliers were there? And I was like, Well, I wore a blond wig, a nude leotard, the room was dirty, and there was no chandelier. And they were like, Whaaat? That doesn t make any sense at all. I didn t even know what to say. It was such a big change for me, because I m not used to doing that style in normal dance competitions. It was definitely very different for me, but I love being able to do that kind of style.
What even is that style? I don t know! It s like, quirky, contemporary-ish. It s pretty much all different things put together, kies because some parts are really soft, some parts are quirky, and then there s the huge dance break. It s all different.
What do you guys talk about when you re toge
