Yes, Virginia, This Pocahontas Is for Real

"What we'd discovered is she is mature far beyond her years," Green says. "She's traveled her whole life and has a worldview. We learned she has great drive and discipline. We learned she was kind of fearless."

Then, Green says, they finally turned the camera on her, and well, that was pretty much it.

"The camera loves her. She had this mystery that just drew you in.

"It was unmistakable."

On the set, Q'orianka proved a willing pupil, soaking up advice from Farrell ("He told me as an actor you shouldn't take yourself too seriously") and being open to Malick's creative whims.

"He was a very spur-of-the-moment kind of director," Q'orianka says, laughing. "He would see a tall funnel field or a tall grass from somewhere over there and he'd be like, 'Oh, oh, Q'orianka, can you take your shoes off and just run through the field? Be the wind! Be the wind! Good, good.'

"And I'd be stepping on every possible thorn in the world you could imagine and God, it hurt so bad but I would do it again. . . . It was really fun. You never knew what to expect."

Actor Wes Studi, who played her uncle, Opechancanough, says Q'orianka always came to the set in character and ready to roll. "I had a bit of a trepidation, I suppose, not having worked with that many youngsters, but as far as I'm concerned, she's a total pro."

His only regret?

"I'm just sorry some of [our] scenes [together] didn't make it until the final cut."

* * *

She's making her way through the museum, pointing out the Quechua Indian exhibit and talking about how she first met her Quechua grandmother in Peru, just outside Lima, almost by chance. A young museum employee steps up, shyly, to tell her that he's Pawnee, and he heard all about her visit to his rez back home, and good luck with the movie. Q'orianka dimples up and gives him a hug. She's big with the hugs, dispensing them with a warm squeeze and a smile. You get the feeling that she's still trying to navigate the attention.

Did she get all swept up in the Hollywood drama of being the starlet of the moment?

"No, I didn't . . . probably because my family's there," Q'orianka says, "very much watching out for me. Because there are so many things pulling you in that direction and you need support.

"You need people around you that care about you and are thinking about you in your best interest. And keep your mind straight."

She often gets the old-soul observation from people. A lot. "Nearly every person I meet," she says, speaking slowly. "It's kind of weird. I have no clue. I don't even fully know what it means."

But does she think she's been around before? Done the other life thing?

"Yeah, yeah. I honestly think I was an Indian living in the time of the Trail of Tears," she says. "Something like that. Every time I read books about back then, I get so devastatingly sad, so, so . . . I feel such a deep connection to it."