Maia Mitchell
Maia McCall Mitchell[1] (born 18 August 1993[2]) is an Australian actress and singer.[3] Known for her work in film and television, she has received various accolades, including nominations for eight Teen Choice Awards.
Maia Mitchell
Born and raised in Lismore, she began her career on Australian television, playing lead roles in Mortified (2006–2007), Trapped (2008–2009) and Castaway (2011). After moving to America, she had her film debut in the science fiction thriller After the Dark (2013) and subsequently had her breakthrough starring opposite Ross Lynch in the Disney Channel musical films Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015). Global stardom followed with her critically acclaimed performances as troubled foster child Callie Adams Foster in the Freeform drama series The Fosters (2013–2018) and its sequel Good Trouble (2019–2024), the latter of which she also produced. During this period, Mitchell also had roles in films, such as the crime drama Hot Summer Nights (2017), the comedy Never Goin' Back (2018) and the young adult romance The Last Summer (2019). Returning to Australia in 2022, she played Lady Belle Fox in the Hulu historical comedy series The Artful Dodger (2023).
Mitchell has contributed to the soundtracks of Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015), and has also performed various independent cover songs both as a solo artist and with former partner Rudy Mancuso.
Early life[edit]
Mitchell was born in Lismore, New South Wales. Her father, Alex, is a taxi driver while her mother, Jill, works in the education system.[4] Mitchell has one younger brother, Charlie.[5] She learned to play guitar at a young age, which has been demonstrated in her film and television work.[6] She attended Trinity Catholic College, Lismore.[7]
Career[edit]
2000s: Australian television debut[edit]
Mitchell first began acting by performing in school plays and also in local theatre productions. She was discovered by talent agencies and got her big break at age 12, when she was cast as Brittany Flune in the Australian children's television series Mortified.[8] Mortified ended after two seasons and a total of 26 episodes, which ran from 30 June 2006 to 11 April 2007.[9] Due to her success on Mortified, she also starred in the Australian TV series Trapped and its sequel series Castaway as the character Natasha Hamilton. She was also in the TV series K-9, a spin-off of the popular British TV series Doctor Who which focuses on the robot dog K9.
2010s: Breakthrough and American television[edit]
Her first television role in the U.S. was in the Disney Channel TV series Jessie. She then made her film debut by starring as the main character McKenzie/Mack in the Disney Channel original movie Teen Beach Movie and reprising her role in Teen Beach 2. From 2013 to 2018, she starred in the ABC Family later Freeform drama series The Fosters as Callie Jacob, who would later change names to Callie Adams Foster.[10] During the show's fifth and last season, it was announced that Mitchell and Cierra Ramirez would be spun off into their own series,[11] titled Good Trouble which premiered in January 2019.[12] She received critical acclaim for her performance in the series, with Brad Newsome of The Sydney Morning Herald calling her "a standout", writing "Young Australian Maia Mitchell is terrific again in this sequel series to The Fosters [...] The hugely likeable Mitchell continues to grow as a perceptive, multi-faceted actor whose best work is yet to come."[13] Mitchell was a main cast member until the second episode the second episode of the fourth season, when she chose to return to her native Australia during the 2022 Australian flood crisis,[14] before later returning with guest roles in the fifth season. Mitchell and Ramirez also served as executive producers of Good Trouble.
Also in 2018, she collaborated with Rudy Mancuso for the song "Magic".[15]
2020s: Return to Australia[edit]
Mitchell returned to LA in 2023 to rejoin Good Trouble in its fifth season.[16] That year, she also played the leading role of Lady Belle Fox in The Artful Dodger (2023), an 8-episode miniseries made for Disney+. The show follows Jack "Artful Dodger" Dawkins years after the events of Charles Dickens' novel, Oliver Twist (1838). In 2024, she finished Good Trouble, after five seasons. In recent years, since the 2022 Australian flood crisis, she has been an advocate for climate change and environmental welfare.
Personal life[edit]
In 2022, Mitchell announced that she had temporarily moved back to her native Lismore, Australia, to be with her family amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Australian flood crisis.[17]
From 2015 to early 2022, Mitchell was in a relationship with American internet personality Rudy Mancuso.[18]