Bailee Madison

**Bailee Madison** is an American actress. She is known for her roles as May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of Jess Aarons in Bridge to Terabithia (2007). She is also known as the younger version of Snow White in the ABC fantasy drama Once Upon a Time and as Grace Russell on the Hallmark Channel series Good Witch. Other works include the horror film Don't Be Afraid of the Dark as Sallie Hurst, and the role of Maggie in the film Just Go with It and Parental Guidance as Harper Simmons.

## Early life

Madison was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the youngest of seven children. She has four brothers and two sisters. Her older sister, Kaitlin Riley, is also an actress. Her mother is Patricia Riley. She began her career when she was two weeks old, appearing in an Office Depot commercial. Since then, she has appeared in several national commercials for major companies including Disney, SeaWorld, and Cadillac. She also serves as a national youth spokesperson for the childhood-cancer charity Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

## Career

### **2006–2012: Early career and breakthrough**

Madison made her major motion picture debut in the movie *Lonely Hearts*, in which she plays Rainelle, a girl thrown into the midst of a world of crime. Madison also has a significant role in the Disney movie *Bridge to Terabithia*, based on the children's book. She plays May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of the lead male character played by Josh Hutcherson. She also appears in the independent film *Look* as Megan, a girl who is being watched and followed by a kidnapper.

Madison had a small role in *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles* during the season 1 finale "What He Beheld" as a girl who becomes part of a short-lived hostage situation. In the DVD extras it is said that they thought about changing the role slightly because of its violent nature, but she insisted that they not. Madison appeared in Nickelodeon's made-for-TV movie, *The Last Day of Summer*. She plays a girl who helps a friend during a difficult time. Another Nickelodeon production she had a role in was the television Christmas special *Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh*. She played a girl who lived with a foster family.

Madison is seen in a featured supporting role in the 2009 film *Brothers* as Isabelle Cahill, the older daughter of Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and Grace Cahill (Natalie Portman). For her portrayal in the movie, she was nominated for both a Saturn Award and a BFCA Critics' Choice Award. In 2010, Madison was in the movie *Letters to God*, where she portrayed Samantha Perryfield, best friend of the lead character who is fighting cancer.

She is seen in *Conviction* playing the younger version of Hilary Swank's character, Betty Anne Waters. She can be seen in the episode "Locum" from *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* as Mackenzie Burton, a girl who was adopted and feels like she is only filling the place of her parents' older daughter who was abducted years ago. She appeared in three episodes of the children's horror series, *R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour*.

In 2011, Madison had a recurring role in the Disney Channel Original Series *Wizards of Waverly Place* as Maxine, the girl form of Max Russo. She also appeared in *Just Go with It*, alongside Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, as Maggie Murphy, a young girl who wants to become an actress. Madison can be seen in the drama film, *An Invisible Sign* as the younger version of Jessica Alba's character Mona Gray. She starred in her first leading role in the horror film, *Don't Be Afraid of the Dark*, alongside Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce where she portrayed Sally Hurst, a lonely withdrawn child who is sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend.

In 2012, Madison appeared in the Hallmark film *A Taste of Romance* alongside Teri Polo and James Patrick Stuart. She also had a guest role as the younger version of Ginnifer Goodwin's character Snow White in the TV series *Once Upon a Time*. She also could be seen as the main character in the film *Cowgirls n' Angels* where she played the feisty and rebellious Ida Clayton who has fantasies of finding her father, a rodeo rider. Madison appeared in another Hallmark film entitled *Smart Cookie* as Daisy, an eager girl hoping to prove herself as a Girl Scout. In December, she appeared in the family comedy film *Parental Guidance*, alongside Billy Crystal and Bette Midler.

### **2013–present: Continued success**

In 2013, Madison began playing Hillary on the TV sitcom *Trophy Wife*, replacing Gianna LePera who played the character in the pilot. In 2014, she began playing the recurring role of Sophia Quinn in the ABC Family drama *The Fosters*. In 2015, she began playing Grace Russell, the daughter of Cassie Nightingale, in the Hallmark series *Good Witch*. Madison continued in the role until the end of the fifth season in 2019.

In 2017, it was announced that Madison would star in an adaptation of Rachel Bateman's novel *Someone Else's Summer*.

In 2018, Madison portrayed the role of Kinsey, a rebellious child in slasher horror film *The Strangers: Prey at Night*. She starred alongside Christina Hendricks and Martin Henderson, as her parents. The film received a mixed response from critics and was relatively successful at the box office.

## Other ventures

Madison has worked in voice over, with such projects as *Breathe Bible*.

Madison has served as the national youth spokesperson for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation since 2010, an organization that encourages kids to fundraise and spread awareness of pediatric cancer by running their own lemonade stands.[14] In January 2018, Madison's first novel was published, *Losing Brave*, a Young-Adult Mystery which was co-written with Stefne Miller. Since November 2018, she has co-hosted the podcast *Just Between Us* with her sister Kaitlin Vilasuso.

## Personal life

She dated YouTuber and model Alex Lange from September 2016 to December 2018. Neither Lange nor Madison spoke about the break up, but AwesomenessTV put out a YouTube video to announce this.

Since around April 2019 she has been in a relationship with New Hope Club band member and lead singer Blake Richardson. It is uncertain when exactly they started dating, however several Instagram posts from both, (the earliest ones in May and June) and the YouTube video on New Hope Club's channel filmed in April hints at their relationship.

Madison posts frequently about him on her Instagram stories, Twitter and main Instagram feed, generally in support of his work but also sharing sweet moments with him.

## Trivia

* Comes from the same part of south Florida as Bella Thorne and Victoria Justice.
* Was on a show, prior to Once Upon a Time (2011), with Jennifer Morrison. She played "Lucy", while Jennifer played her doctor in the House (2004) episode, House: Act Your Age (2007). They shared no scenes in Once Upon a Time (2011), because Bailee is the young version of Jennifer's character's mother.
* Gets frequently confused with Maia Mitchell.
* Bailee Madison played Maia Mitchell's sister on the show "The Fosters" and people often think they're real sisters, because they look alike.
* She has appeared in commercials for Seaworld and Disney, and started her career when she appeared in an Office Depot commercial as a two-week-old infant. In 2007, she played May Belle Aarons in Bridge to Terabithia.
* She launched her own YouTube web series and hosted it with her former babysitter, Samantha Droke.
* She is the younger sister of Kaitlin Riley and has five other siblings. Her mother's name is Patricia Riley. She dated Alex Lange from 2016 to 2018. Subsequently, she began dating Blake Richardson from New Hope Club.
* She played the younger version of Snow White, whose played by Ginnifer Goodwin, in the ABC drama Once Upon a Time.