McKenna Grace may be only 16, but the young star has been in several high-profile films and television shows for over a decade since her professional career began at the age of six. Whether or not you’re familiar with her name, her face is unmistakable, and she has appeared in a wide variety of projects and genres, from kids’ shows, to dramas, and even horror. Grace is one of the most recognizable young actresses currently, and with her whole life ahead of her, there’s no telling how huge she will be in the coming years.
While she started out in lighter projects, the young starlet has more than proven impressive versatility. She has taken simple recurring and guest roles and elevated them with her brilliant emotive prowess. With dramas like Gifted, where she held her own against juggernauts Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer, Grace is often praised for showing no fear when in front of the camera.
Here’s a ranking of the best projects she’s starred in, from her debut on Disney XD’s Crash & Bernstein, to the supernatural comedy Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and an Emmy-nominated role in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
10. Crash & Bernstein
In her professional debut, Grace starred in a recurring capacity on the Disney XD sitcom Crash & Bernstein as Jasmine Bernstein, the six year old sister of Wyatt. Jasmine is equal parts adorable and terrifying, and is always donning her signature color, pink. When she doesn’t get what she wants, she’s known to let out a very loud scream that’s heard at every corner of the house, coupled with throwing tantrums. However, Jasmine is quite the brilliant young girl and great with electronics, proving more intellectually capable than her peers.
9. The Young and the Restless
For three years beginning in 2013, Grace starred as Faith Newman in the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. She filled in for the original actress Alyvia Alyn Lind, and while her acting was praised, her role is usually clouded out by Lind’s, who took back the role, playing Faith until 2021.
8. Young Sheldon
Grace’s versatility as an actress is expertly exhibited in Young Sheldon. In the coming-of-age sitcom, she stars as the young genius Paige Swanson, rival to Sheldon Cooper. Introduced in the second season, Paige also attends college at a very young age due to her incredible brilliance, but shows her rebellious side through all the ways she tries to cope with her parents’ divorce. Much like Sheldon, she is misunderstood by many adults and children her age, but her being smarter than him often brings out his jealous side.
7. Once Upon a Time
Before Disney’s deep-dive into live-action remakes, many fans looked to Once Upon a Time to catch all their favorite fairytale characters brought to life. For seven seasons, unique spins of classic stories were given a deeper treatment, and one character proved to be the center of it all — Emma Swan, played by Jennifer Morrison. Grace may have played the role of a younger Emma in just four episodes, but her acting was an emotionally stirring one.
6. Captain Marvel
Grace stars as the younger version of Carol Danvers, played by Brie Larson in Captain Marvel. There’s not much to witness as far as the young actresses’ screen time, but she does prove that she can pull off a tough girl, a role she never really portrayed before this one.
5. Designated Survivor
In Designated Survivor, Grace plays the role of the younger daughter of the President, and though she was barely 10 years old, she delivered one of her most emotional performances. The actress brought so much depth to an otherwise forgettable character, proving she could keep her head above water next to a huge star like Kiefer Sutherland.
4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
After many guest and recurring roles in film and television, Grace’s most recent lead role is starring in the 2021 sequel to Ghostbusters, titled Afterlife. She plays the role of the young Phoebe Spengler. The film was a huge commercial success, receiving favorable reviews from fans and critics. While it’s not Grace’s most definitive role, and her darker hair was unfamiliar to many fans, she does have way more screen time here than in many of her other projects.
3. I, Tonya
By the release of the Oscar-winning I, Tonya, Grace was five years into her acting career and delivered one of her finest performances to date. While the actress appeared in flashbacks for only about 5 minutes of screen time, Grace brought a certain maturity to a biographical role that stood out instantly. What elevates her performance is that she successfully learned how to ice skate to properly portray Tonya Harding, played in the film by Margot Robbie. Speaking to The Boston Herald in 2017, she referred to the role as the “most challenging role” she’d taken on.
“Physically, it was the most challenging role I’ve ever done before because I had to learn to ice skate, and I’ve never done ice skating before. I’d fall and I was all beaten up but I had to get up and keep trying.”
2. The Handmaid’s Tale
For her role as the young bride Esther Keyes in the fourth season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Grace earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. In her most mature and complex role to date, Grace played the very intelligent young girl who gradually poisons her brutal and vicious elder husband into senility.
1. Gifted
Grace’s most notable lead role is still 2017’s Gifted, where she starred as the highly intelligent Mary Adler alongside Chris Evans. Her performance in the emotional drama was met with rave reviews, solidifying the young star as one of the strongest acting talents of her generation. The film was a box office success, earning more than six times its budget of seven million dollars, and Grace received several awards and nominations, including a Best Young Actress nod at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.
