Mckenna Grace (born June 25, 2006) is an American child actress. She began acting professionally at the age of six, with her earliest roles including Jasmine Bernstein in the Disney XD sitcom Crash & Bernstein (2012–2014) and Faith Newman in the soap opera The Young and the Restless (2013–2015). She is best known for her roles as Penny Kirkman in the series Designated Survivor, Rose Harbenberger in the comedy series Fuller House (2016–2020), Mary Adler in the Marc Webb drama film Gifted (2017), young Theodora Crain in the Netflix supernatural horror series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), and Christmas Flint in the movie Troop Zero (2019).
Early life
Grace was born in Grapevine, Texas, on June 25, 2006. She has 1/8th Mexican ancestry.
Career
In 2013, Grace made her acting debut, playing Sydney in the television pilot Joe, Joe & Jane. Later she recurred on the Disney XD series Crash & Bernstein. She had a recurring role, as Faith Newman, on The Young and the Restless between 2013 and 2015. In 2015, she had a recurring role on the CBS series CSI: Cyber. Grace played the role of Daisy in the science fiction thriller Independence Day: Resurgence; the film, directed by Roland Emmerich, was released on June 24, 2016. Other early film roles include the drama film Mr. Church (2016), and the comedy film How to Be a Latin Lover (2017).
In 2017, Grace played a lead role in the Marc Webb drama film Gifted, starring alongside Chris Evans. She gained recognition for her performance in the role, being nominated for the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.
Grace’s career has mostly consisted of portraying the “young version” of older characters. She learned ice-skating to portray the younger version of Tonya Harding in the biopic I, Tonya and also played the significant role of Juliet in the horror film Amityville: The Awakening along with Bella Thorne; Franck Khalfoun directed the film.
Grace starred as Emma Grossman in the horror drama film The Bad Seed (2018)
Grace starred as Judy Warren, daughter of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, in the 2019 horror film Annabelle Comes Home. Also that year, she appeared in the Marvel Studios film Captain Marvel as a younger version of the titular character.
On November 28, 2018, Deadline Hollywood reported that Grace would appear as the younger version of Sabrina Spellman on the second season of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Personal life
Grace is a vegetarian and has directed her affection for animals towards work with Farm Sanctuary and PETA, including appearing in a campaign reminding people not to leave their dogs in hot cars.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | R | Young Riley | Short film | |
| 2013 | Goodbye World | Hannah Palmer | ||
| Suburban Gothic | Zelda | |||
| 2015 | Russell Madness | Lena | ||
| Frankenstein | Molly | |||
| The Pearl Whale | Granddaughter | Short film | ||
| 2016 | Mr. Church | Isabel “Izzy” Brooks | ||
| The Angry Birds Movie | Ella Bird (voice) | |||
| Independence Day: Resurgence | Daisy Blackwell | |||
| 2017 | Gifted | Mary Adler | ||
| How to Be a Latin Lover | Arden | |||
| Amityville: The Awakening | Juliet Walker | |||
| I, Tonya | Young Tonya Harding | |||
| 2018 | Ready Player One | Elementary School Kid | ||
| The Bad Seed | Emma Grossman | |||
| 2019 | Captain Marvel | Young Carol Danvers (13 Years Old) | ||
| Troop Zero | Christmas Flint | |||
| Annabelle Comes Home | Judy Warren | |||
| 2020 | Scoob! | Young Daphne Blake (voice) | ||
| 2021 | Ghostbusters: Afterlife | Phoebe | Post-production | |
| Malignant | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2014 | Crash & Bernstein | Jasmine Bernstein | 15 episodes | |
| 2013 | The Goodwin Games | Even Younger Chloe | Episode: “Hamletta” | |
| 2013 | Joe, Joe & Jane | Sydney | Unsold pilot | |
| 2013–2014 | Instant Mom | Sam | 2 episodes | |
| 2013–2015 | The Young and the Restless | Faith Newman | 50 episodes | |
| 2014 | Clarence | Tinia (voice) | Episode: “Patients” | |
| 2014 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Young Abby Fisher | Episode: “Dead Woods” | |
| 2014 | Clementine | Lucy | Television film | |
| 2014 | Love Is Relative | Casey | Television film | |
| 2014 | Gravity Falls | Additional Voices | Episode: “Sock Opera” | |
| 2015 | K.C. Undercover | Quinn | Episode: “Give Me A ‘K’! Give Me A ‘C’!” | |
| 2015 | The Vampire Diaries | Young Caroline Forbes | 2 episodes | |
| 2015 | Genie in a Bikini | Teresa | Television film | |
| 2015 | Dog with a Blog | Jules | Episode: “You’re Not My Sister Anymore” | |
| 2015 | Pickle and Peanut | Cindy / Sugarbee (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| 2015 | Babysitter’s Black Book | Cindy | Television film | |
| 2015 | CSI: Cyber | Michelle Mundo | 3 episodes | |
| 2015–2017 | Once Upon a Time | Young Emma Swan | 4 episodes | |
| 2016 | Teachers | Avery | Episode: “Drunk Kiss” | |
| 2016–2018 | Elena of Avalor | Bella (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | Bizaardvark | Didi | Episode: “Pretty-Con” | |
| 2016 | Marvel’s Most Wanted | Zoe Abel | Unaired pilot | |
| 2016–2017 | The Lion Guard | Kambuni (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| 2016–2020 | Fuller House | Rose Harbenberger | 8 episodes | |
| 2016–2019 | Designated Survivor | Penny Kirkman | 21 episodes | |
| 2017–2019 | Mickey and the Roadster Racers | Bitsy Beagleberg (voice) | 5 episodes | |
| 2018 | The Haunting of Hill House | Young Theodora Crain | 7 episodes | |
| 2018 | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | Young Sabrina Spellman | Episode: “A Midwinter’s Tale” | |
| 2018–2020 | Young Sheldon | Paige | 4 episodes | |
| 2021 | The Handmaid’s Tale | Mrs. Keyes | Recurring |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | “Queen of Broken Hearts” | Blackbear | Lead |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Work | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer | Gifted (2017 film) | Nominated | |
| Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Youth Performance | Nominated | |||
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance | Won | |||
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth | Won | |||
| Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Young Actress | Nominated | |||
| 21st Hollywood Film Awards for Hollywood Ensemble Award | I, Tonya | Won | ||
| 2019 | Online Film & Television Association for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series | The Haunting of Hill House (TV series) | Nominated | |
| 2020 | Hollywood Critics Association for next generation of Hollywood | N/A | Won |