From The Hunger Games & Scooby-Doo To New Music: When Does Mckenna Grace Have Time To Sleep?
Mckenna Grace might just be the hardest-working woman in young Hollywood. She started her career at five years old and has played younger versions of Brie Larson, Margot Robbie, Kiernan Shipka, and more. She has 78 film and TV credits and two EPs to her name… oh, and she’s only 19 years old. When I get a moment to chat with Grace, she’s in New York for a meeting, before heading back to film the new Scooby-Doo: Origins Netflix show. The press tour is no doubt about to kick off in a few months for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (the film comes out in November), and Grace has been in the studio recording and releasing new music — the darker sounding Ugly and Rotten came out earlier this month. When I ask her if she has time to sleep, she laughs and says, “No ma’am, I do not.” “No, I do not sleep ever. I think I just took a 10-minute power nap in the car, so that was my sleep quota for the day,” she jokes. “It’s ridiculous. It’s so fun, though. It’s such a blessing that I get to travel the world, and do my dream job, and get to do so much all the time.” Even some of her new songs were written while she was physically exhausted and working long days on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, where she plays Maysilee Donner. When filming the arena scenes in Spain, a crew member let Grace borrow a guitar to write in what little spare time she had. ” I would write on it some nights, but I was always so wiped and tired. It was like we were really in the Hunger Games, so I was always tired after work,” she recalls. “I definitely think that my experience there influenced some of my music in a way, because how you’re living and the things that you’re doing always influence who you are or the way that you’re acting.” I do not sleep ever. I think I just took a 10-minute power nap in the car, so that was my sleep quota for the day.Mckenna grace While there are hints of Maysilee Donner in Grace’s new music, most of it comes from a more personal side. Ugly and Rotten, created with the metal band Ice Nine Kills, was taken from one of the singer’s diary entries. It’s a scathing song about an ex who was stringing Grace along while talking to another woman. Don’t fret though, it’s not about boyfriend Mason Thames, who is a big fan of her music. “[Mason] heard Ugly and Rotten in the car when we were going to get sushi with my parents. I made him listen to it in the car, and I was like, you have to tell me if you actually like it,” Grace says. “I played him a bunch of [songs]. I send him every song I write. I’m like, what do you think? How’s this demo? He’s my great music critic.” The star has big dreams when it comes to her music career, including a collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo (who she co-starred with on Bizaardvark back in 2016), and a tour. But first, she needs to find some time. “I always have so much fun performing live. It’s such a dream for me,” she says about touring. “I just want to have a second off of acting to be able to, and [for] my music [to] be doing well enough… that’s a dream of mine.” Her musical direction is perhaps darker than what fans would expect from the former child star, with the singer citing influencers like Ice Nine Kills, Slipknot and Flyleaf. “I always felt so cool whenever I listened to heavier stuff with my dad,” she recalls. “I love metal and rock, and those heavier tones, and so I was really excited [to bring that to my new music].” For now, though, Grace is busy becoming Daphne in the Scooby-Doo: Origins TV show before heading into publicity for The Hunger Games. Stepping into two of the biggest franchises is no mean feat, and she can’t believe her hard work has paid off. “I’ve been so lucky to [be part of] of these insane franchises, these incredible IPs and characters that I’ve been such big fans of,” she exclaims. “I have these old videos with me dressed up as Daphne, and me as Daphne as a kid… it’s so wild to me to get to be stepping in these shoes.” People sometimes question how authentic Grace’s fangirl persona is, but she assures me it’s all real. As a working child actor, she didn’t have time to do anything but sit at home watching movies and reading books. As a self-described homeschooled nerd, she is living her childhood dream. “I’ve been a fan of The Hunger Games since I was a little girl. I used to have a Nerf bow and arrow because I wanted to be like Katniss, and I used to have a poster board for all the books,” she admits. “It’s no secret that I was very Team Peeta back in the day… [so] to be doing it with [director] Francis [Lawrence] and [producer] Nina Jacobson… it’s great, it couldn’t be in better hands, because it’s the hands that created it.” I’ve been a fan of The Hunger Games since I was a little girl… it’s no secret that I was very Team Peeta back in the day.Mckenna grace She teases that audiences are not ready for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the prequel film based on the book of the same name. “I think i
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Mckenna Grace might just be the hardest-working woman in young Hollywood. She started her career at five years old and has played younger versions of Brie Larson, Margot Robbie, Kiernan Shipka, and more. She has 78 film and TV credits and two EPs to her name… oh, and she’s only 19 years old. When I get a moment to chat with Grace, she’s in New York for a meeting, before heading back to film the new Scooby-Doo: Origins Netflix show. The press tour is no doubt about to kick off in a few months for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (the film comes out in November), and Grace has been in the studio recording and releasing new music — the darker sounding Ugly and Rotten came out earlier this month. When I ask her if she has time to sleep, she laughs and says, “No ma’am, I do not.”
“No, I do not sleep ever. I think I just took a 10-minute power nap in the car, so that was my sleep quota for the day,” she jokes. “It’s ridiculous. It’s so fun, though. It’s such a blessing that I get to travel the world, and do my dream job, and get to do so much all the time.”
Even some of her new songs were written while she was physically exhausted and working long days on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, where she plays Maysilee Donner. When filming the arena scenes in Spain, a crew member let Grace borrow a guitar to write in what little spare time she had. ” I would write on it some nights, but I was always so wiped and tired. It was like we were really in the Hunger Games, so I was always tired after work,” she recalls. “I definitely think that my experience there influenced some of my music in a way, because how you’re living and the things that you’re doing always influence who you are or the way that you’re acting.”
I do not sleep ever. I think I just took a 10-minute power nap in the car, so that was my sleep quota for the day.
Mckenna grace
While there are hints of Maysilee Donner in Grace’s new music, most of it comes from a more personal side. Ugly and Rotten, created with the metal band Ice Nine Kills, was taken from one of the singer’s diary entries. It’s a scathing song about an ex who was stringing Grace along while talking to another woman. Don’t fret though, it’s not about boyfriend Mason Thames, who is a big fan of her music. “[Mason] heard Ugly and Rotten in the car when we were going to get sushi with my parents. I made him listen to it in the car, and I was like, you have to tell me if you actually like it,” Grace says. “I played him a bunch of [songs]. I send him every song I write. I’m like, what do you think? How’s this demo? He’s my great music critic.”
The star has big dreams when it comes to her music career, including a collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo (who she co-starred with on Bizaardvark back in 2016), and a tour. But first, she needs to find some time. “I always have so much fun performing live. It’s such a dream for me,” she says about touring. “I just want to have a second off of acting to be able to, and [for] my music [to] be doing well enough… that’s a dream of mine.” Her musical direction is perhaps darker than what fans would expect from the former child star, with the singer citing influencers like Ice Nine Kills, Slipknot and Flyleaf. “I always felt so cool whenever I listened to heavier stuff with my dad,” she recalls. “I love metal and rock, and those heavier tones, and so I was really excited [to bring that to my new music].”
For now, though, Grace is busy becoming Daphne in the Scooby-Doo: Origins TV show before heading into publicity for The Hunger Games. Stepping into two of the biggest franchises is no mean feat, and she can’t believe her hard work has paid off. “I’ve been so lucky to [be part of] of these insane franchises, these incredible IPs and characters that I’ve been such big fans of,” she exclaims. “I have these old videos with me dressed up as Daphne, and me as Daphne as a kid… it’s so wild to me to get to be stepping in these shoes.”
People sometimes question how authentic Grace’s fangirl persona is, but she assures me it’s all real. As a working child actor, she didn’t have time to do anything but sit at home watching movies and reading books. As a self-described homeschooled nerd, she is living her childhood dream. “I’ve been a fan of The Hunger Games since I was a little girl. I used to have a Nerf bow and arrow because I wanted to be like Katniss, and I used to have a poster board for all the books,” she admits. “It’s no secret that I was very Team Peeta back in the day… [so] to be doing it with [director] Francis [Lawrence] and [producer] Nina Jacobson… it’s great, it couldn’t be in better hands, because it’s the hands that created it.”
I’ve been a fan of The Hunger Games since I was a little girl… it’s no secret that I was very Team Peeta back in the day.
Mckenna grace
She teases that audiences are not ready for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the prequel film based on the book of the same name. “I think it’s going to be such an incredible cinematic experience,” Grace says. “I keep reminding everybody how sad it’s going to be. It’s going to be terribly sad, lots and lots of tears, lots and lots of drama, but it’s going to be beautiful.”
With a starring role in two hotly anticipated franchises, it’s no wonder Grace hasn’t had time to sleep. But with the way her career is going, it seems like the hard work and long days are well and truly paying off.
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