China Anne Mcclain

China Anne McClain is a multi-hyphenate talent being an actress, singer, and dancer, as well as a digital influencer who is best known for her starring roles in the Disney Channel original series "A.N.T Farm," Disney’s Descendants TV & Film franchise and now the CW’s newest hit superhero show "Black Lightning." McClain's musical career also took flight with the release of the A.N.T. Farm soundtrack, featuring her hits "Dynamite" and "Calling All the Monsters." She later earned a J-14 Teen Icon Award nomination for Icon of Tomorrow in 2011. In addition to McClain’s over 17 million followers on TikTok and more than 700,000 YouTube subscribers, she also shares a YouTube channel with her sister Lauryn.

McClain’s career began when she was only seven years old, beginning with roles in Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls and "House of Payne" as well as starring in the film Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2, alongside Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade. In recognition of her talent, she received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Youth for her role in "A.N.T. Farm" in 2012. McClain also showed her versatility by guest-starring in the television series "So Random!" in 2012, and later on R.L. Stine's "The Haunted Hour" in 2014 and the FOX series "Bones" in 2015.

In 2011, Disney wrote and developed its hit TV series "A.N.T. Farm" specifically for McClain. For the show, McClain recorded a cover of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite." She also sang and co-wrote the series theme song, “Exceptional." McClain’s first music video for “Dynamite” premiered on July 23, 2011 on Disney Channel to rave reviews. On September 28, 2011, she released her second single “Calling All The Monsters” which charted number 100 on the Hot Billboard 100 chart and received over 1 million views in its first 2 days online. McClain also sang the theme song for the Disney Channel series "Doc McStuffins" and performed at the 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll with her sisters. She competed on ABC's "Sing Your Face Off" in 2014 and emerged as the winner of the show's first season.

McClain also starred as Uma, the daughter of Ursula, in the Disney movie Descendants 2, alongside Dove Cameron and Cameron Boyce. In 2017, McClain was named one of the "10 TV Stars to Watch" by Variety for her role in "Black Lightning." She continued to reprise her role as Uma in the television short film "Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story" in 2018 and in Descendants 3 in 2019. She was also an award presenter at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards. McClain’s most recent single from the Descendants 2 soundtrack, “What’s My Name," reached number 38 on the Billboard charts and was RIAA certified Gold on November 10, 2017 for selling 500,000 units in the U.S.

McClain starred alongside Cress Williams as Jennifer Pierce, aka superhero Lightning, on the CW TV series "Black Lightning," which followed a retired superhero who becomes a vigilante for justice. From 2018, McClain played Jennifer Pierce in "Black Lightning" and even performed her original song "Young Guns" in a season two episode of the show. "Black Lightning" premiered as the strongest premiere for the CW in two years, and currently sits at a 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite leaving the show in March 2021, she later returned to reprise her role in the series finale.