This is an accepted version of this page China Anne McClain (born August 25, 1998) is an American actress and singer.
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).
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 its sequel Grown Ups 2 (2013); and became internationally known for starring as Chyna Parks in the Disney Channel television series A.N.T.
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.
[6] 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.
[4] McClain appeared in various other shows and movies such as Hannah Montana (2009) with future co-star Sierra McCormick, NCIS (2009),[7] and the film Hurricane Season (2009).
[9][10] She also appeared in the film Grown Ups (2010) as Charlotte McKenzie, the daughter of Chris Rock's and Maya Rudolph's characters.
[17] 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.
[28]On November 10, 2011, McClain met with the then First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House to speak about the Joining Forces initiative; the next day Disney Channel aired messages promoting the initiative, which recognizes America's military families and children, and brings awareness on Veterans Day.
[33] In December, McClain and her sisters, Sierra and Lauryn, performed their version of the song "Jingle Bell Rock" at the 2011 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade.
[37] On March 4, 2012, McClain was the opening act alongside her sisters in Houston for Big Time Rush on their Better with U Tour.
[38][39] On March 11, 2012, the McClain Sisters performed their new song called "Rise", featured in the Disneynature film Chimpanzee, at the Mall of America.
In the March/April 2014 issue of BYOU magazine, McClain said it was "bittersweet" that A.N.T Farm was ending, and announced plans to focus on doing music with her sisters.
[58] She competed from May to June of that year, performing as several iconic singers: Rihanna, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, James Brown, and Whitney Houston; she won the show's first and only season.
[64][65] In 2015, McClain was featured in the FOX series Bones (2015) in the episode "The Lost in the Found", playing Kathryn Walling.
[73][74][75] On November 25, 2016, McClain performed her cover of the song "This Christmas" at the Disney Parks Presents: A Descendants Magical Holiday Celebration.
[77] In June, Variety named her one of the "10 TV Stars to Watch in 2017" for her role as Jennifer Pierce in her then upcoming 2018 television series Black Lightning.
[79][80] Her single "What's My Name" from the film peaked on several Billboard charts and was certified gold, with 500,000 units sold, on November 10, 2017.
Undercover (2017),[82] and starred as Meg in the Lifetime television film Ten: Murder Island (2017), which she also executive produced.
[87] In November, she starred in the action thriller film Blood Brother, opposite Trey Songz and Ron Killings.
[88][89] In November 2018, McClain performed her original song "Young Guns" during a season two episode of Black Lightning.
[92] In June 2020, her girl group changed their name to Thriii, and performed at Radio Disney Presents ARDYs Summer Playlist.
[97][98] In 2020, McClain started her online persona by releasing makeup transformations, cosplaying, lip-syncing audios and short Christian sermons on TikTok.