China Anne McClain

**China Anne McClain** (born August 25, 1998) is an American actress and singer. She is a member of the sister girl group . McClain's career began in 2005 when she was seven years old, acting in the movie (2005). She also played China James 2007), along with and her two sisters.However, she became nationally known after 2007, when she joined the cast of the series as Jazmine Payne. In 2010, she co-starred in (2010) as Charlotte McKenzie. McClain became internationally known after starring in the Disney Channel original television series, landing the role as Chyna Parks, from 2011 to 2014. Disney released the soundtrack of the television series on October 11, 2011.

McClain sings six songs and two solos with her sisters on the soundtrack, which debuted in the at number 29 with 14,000 copies sold in its first week. On the soundtrack, McClain sang her version of 's.The release containing the song, reached the eighty-sixth spot on the McClain was a co-star in the 2013 sequel. In 2014, she appeared on the reality singing competition series and was the youngest contestant on the show, winning the show's first season. McClain starred as Gabby Harrison in the original movie (2014) with. She also appears as the main villain Uma in the (2017), playing 's daughter.

In 2018, McClain began portraying in superhero series. she return as Jazmine Payne as a recurring character from the new show OWN's "The Paynes".

## Personal life

McClain was born and raised in. Her father, Michael McClain, is a music producer. Her mother, Shontell, is a songwriter. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her family. McClain has said that she and her family are devout, although they cannot always attend church regularly due to her and her sisters' musical and acting careers.

## Career

### 2005–11: *Tyler Perry's House of Payne*

McClain performing at Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade 2011.

McClain was discovered in 2005 by a music executive who heard her sing and encouraged director to audition her for his 2005 feature film . Her role caught the attention of , who cast her as Jazmine Payne in the television series . She appears in the movie with her sisters, Sierra and Lauryn, who are also actresses and play her older sisters in the film. McClain appeared in and guest starred in various other shows and movies such as with , and the 2009 film . , was also a Disney Channel shows she was on. She also appeared in the movie , as Charlotte McKenzie. McClain appeared on the Disney Channel series in 2011 as Tina in one episode entitled "Wizards vs. Angels".

### 2011–14: *A.N.T. Farm* and music[]

In 2011, McClain was cast as the lead role in the Disney Channel series . She also sings the series theme song, China Anne's first music video, for "Dynamite", premiered on July 23, 2011 on Disney Channel. After less than a week, more than 1 million views on YouTube were reported. She has appeared in an episode of *PrankStars*. She also appeared in the Chiddy Bang Opposite of Adults music video. For the Disney Channel Halloween special in 2011, she performed the song, "". On June 14, 2011, China and her sisters – known as the – signed with . The soundtrack was released on October 11, 2011, featuring China Anne's version of "" by . On September 28, 2011, China Anne released "Calling All The Monsters" to . "Calling All The Monsters" charted number 100 on the chart. On November 24, 2011, China performed her song "Unstoppable" in the 85th Thanksgiving Parade.

She co-starred in the 2013 sequel . On December 27, 2013, it was announced on her Twitter page that A.N.T. Farm would be ending after its 3rd season. On the same day, it was revealed that the McClain Sisters had left Hollywood Records. In the March/April 2014 issue of BYOU Magazine, China said it was "bittersweet" that A.N.T Farm was ending, and announced plans to focus on doing music with her sisters. McClain appeared on 's television show, broadcast from May 31 – June 14, 2014, winning the show's first season.

### 2015–present: Films

In 2015, McClain was featured in the series in the episode "The Lost in the Found", playing Kathryn Walling. She also appeared in the computer-animated series , voiced the role Jenna Chive, a parody of herself. As a part of the various artist who contributed to the album McClain performed the song "Night is Young", the song was featured in the film and was also on the Descendants album. McClain also starred in the computer-animated series , based on the . She voiced Freddie, the daughter of Dr. Facilier. She played the villain Uma, the daughter of Ursula, in . She is also scheduled to appear in the third movie of the Descendants trilogie: Descendants 3. In 2016, she recorded the , co-starring with and . The film will be released in the summer. She was also part of the cast of action-drama film .

In 2017, it was announced that she had been cast as Jennifer Pierce in the pilot for the CW.

## Artistry

China Anne McClain cites her parents, Michael and Shontell, as her biggest influences, as well as , , , and .