China Anne McClain

China Anne McClain (born August 25, 1998) is an American actress and singer.

China Anne McClain was born on August 25, 1998 and raised in Decatur, Georgia.

Her father, Michael McClain, is a music producer who produced a track on Solange Knowles' debut album Solo Star (2002).

Her mother, Shontell (née Rucker), is a songwriter and former screenwriter.

She has two older sisters, Sierra and Lauryn, who are also actresses and singers, and has a younger brother, Gabriel.

McClain's career began when she was seven years old, portraying Alexis in the film The Gospel (2005), and then China James in Daddy's Little Girls (2007).

McClain began her musical career in 2005 as a member of the sister girl group the 3mcclaingirls with her sisters Sierra and Lauryn.

McClain was discovered in 2005 by a music executive who heard her singing and encouraged director Rob Hardy to audition her for his 2005 feature film The Gospel.

She then received recognition for starring as Jazmine Payne in the television series Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–2012; 2020–present) and as Charlotte McKenzie in the film Grown Ups (2010); and became internationally known for starring as Chyna Parks in the Disney Channel television series A.N.T. Farm (2011–2014), and as Uma in the Disney Channel films Descendants 2 (2017) and Descendants 3 (2019).

She also voiced Freddy in Descendants: Wicked World.

McClain auditioned for the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In! (2007) and won a role but turned it down to instead star in the television series Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–present) as Jazmine Payne, after catching Tyler Perry's attention.

Disney kept working with McClain where she booked several guest roles in the years to come.

She appeared in the movie Daddy's Little Girls (2007) with her sisters, Sierra and Lauryn, who are also actresses and played her older sisters in the film.

McClain appeared in various other shows and movies such as Hannah Montana (2009) with future co-star Sierra McCormick, NCIS (2009), and the film Hurricane Season (2009).

In 2009, McClain booked the starring role as Janet in the Disney Channel pilot Jack and Janet Save the Planet alongside future co-stars McCormick and Jake Short.

The pilot was not picked up and never aired.

Her first professional single was "Your Biggest Fan" with Nick Jonas on the soundtrack album Jonas L.A. (2010).

She also appeared in the film Grown Ups (2010) as Charlotte McKenzie, the daughter of Chris Rock's and Maya Rudolph's characters.

McClain had a recurring role on Disney Channel show Jonas (2010) as Kiara, and sang alongside Nick Jonas for the song "Your Biggest Fan" which was featured both in the series and on Jonas L.A., the show's soundtrack album.

In 2011, McClain signed with Hollywood Records both as a solo artist and with her sister girl group, known as the McClain Sisters.

Her debut single as a solo artist was "Dynamite" which peaked at no. 2 on the US Kid Digital Songs, and her second single, "Calling All the Monsters", peaked at no. 1 on the same chart and earned 25,000 downloads within its first week of release.

The A.N.T. Farm soundtrack album spent five weeks on the Billboard Kids chart in 2011 and sold 14,000 copies in its first week of release.

In February 2011, McClain guest starred on Wizards of Waverly Place (2011).

In May, McClain won the NAMIC Vision Award for Best Performance – Actress of Comedy, for her performance as Jazmine Payne.

Later that year, McClain was cast as the lead role, Chyna Parks, in the Disney Channel series A.N.T. Farm, which Disney tailored for her.

She sang and composed the series theme song "Exceptional".

For the show, McClain recorded a cover of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite", for which the music video amassed more than 1 million views in under a week after release on YouTube.

She appeared in an episode of PrankStars (2011).

For the Disney Channel Halloween special in 2011, she performed the song "Calling All the Monsters".

On June 14, 2011, McClain and her sisters – known as the McClain Sisters – signed with Hollywood Records.

The A.N.T. Farm soundtrack was released on October 11, 2011, which includes McClain's version of "Dynamite" and her original song "Calling All the Monsters", among other songs performed by her featured in the show and new songs performed by some of her fellow cast members and two songs performed by the McClain Sisters.

The soundtrack for the show was successful, spending five weeks on the Billboard Kids chart in 2011, peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, peaked at number 2 on the US Top Soundtracks, and sold 14,000 copies within the first week of release.

On September 28, 2011, McClain released "Calling All the Monsters" to iTunes.

"Calling All the Monsters" charted at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and received 25,000 downloads within its first week of release.

That same month McClain earned a J-14 Teen Icon Award nomination for Icon of Tomorrow.

Billboard also named her the sixth best-selling artist for digital kids' songs in 2012.

In 2017, her single "What's My Name" from Descendants 2 peaked on several Billboard charts, and was certified gold, with 500,000 units sold, on November 10, 2017.

In 2018, McClain began starring in The CW superhero series Black Lightning (2018–2021) as Jennifer Pierce / Lightning.

She also reprised her character Jazmine Payne on OWN's revival of The Paynes (2018).

In June 2020 her sister girl group changed their name to Thriii.