Chandler Kinney
American actress (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chandler Kinney (born August 3, 2000)[1][2] is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Willa in Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S franchise and Tabby Haworthe in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Chandler Kinney | |
|---|---|
Kinney in 2022 | |
| Born | August 3, 2000 |
| Years active | 2012–present |
Early life and education
Kinney was born on August 3, 2000, in Sacramento, California.[3] She started dancing when she was three, and is trained in tap, jazz and hip-hop. She studied dance at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.[4] She began acting at age nine. She also has a black belt in martial arts.[5]
Kinney and her mother founded the organization Chandler's Friends, which helps disadvantaged youths.[6] She was homeschooled, and took a gap year before she studied at UCLA.[7] She majored in psychology at UCLA, but left school to film Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.[8]
Career
Throughout her early acting career, she had guest roles on the Disney Channel shows Girl Meets World and K.C. Undercover, and the Nickelodeon show The Haunted Hathaways.[9] Her first major role was as Catherine Dillman in Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street.[10] She then went on to star as Riana Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon.[7] In 2020, she joined the Z-O-M-B-I-E-S franchise as Willa, a werewolf who first appears in Zombies 2.[11][12]
In July 2021, Kinney was announced to be starring in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, a 2022 spinoff of Pretty Little Liars. It was announced she would be playing Tabby, an aspiring director and horror movie buff.[13]
Dancing with the Stars
On September 4, 2024, Kinney was announced as a contestant on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with professional dancer Brandon Armstrong.[14] Earning both the highest cumulative points based on judges' scores and the first perfect score of the season,[15][16] Kinney and Armstrong are the first Black partnership in Dancing with the Stars history to advance to the finale.[17] Their freestyle routine was the show's first performance to feature an ensemble cast of all-Black dancers.[18]
| Week # | Dance / Song | Judges' scores | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Hough | Tonioli | Guest | Total | |||
| 1 | Tango / "Hot to Go!" | 8 | 7 | 8 | 23 | No elimination | |
| 2 | Rumba / "What Was I Made For?" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe | |
| 3 | Cha-cha-cha / "It's Tricky" | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 | No elimination |
| Jive / "We're Not Gonna Take It" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 | Safe | |
| 4 | Contemporary / "I Hope You Dance" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
| 5 | Paso doble / "We Own the Night" Team Freestyle / "I 2 I" |
9 9 |
9 9 |
9 9 |
27 27 |
Safe | |
| 6 | Viennese waltz / "Secret" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 29 | Safe | |
| 7 | Argentine tango / "Para Te" Instant Cha-cha-cha / "Apple" |
10 10 |
10 10 |
10 10 |
30 30 |
Safe | |
| 8 | Salsa / "Spicy Margarita" Foxtrot / "Too Sweet" |
10 9 |
9 10 |
10 10 |
29 29 |
No elimination | |
| 9 | Jive / "APT" Freestyle / "Hellzapoppin" & "Move On Up" |
10 10 |
10 10 |
10 10 |
30 30 |
3rd place | |
Kinney and Armstrong ultimately finished in third place on November 26, 2024, behind runners-up Ilona Maher and her partner Alan Bersten, and winners Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson.[19]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Battlefield America | Chantel | |
| 2013 | Company Town | Ally McKinley | Television movie |
| 2020 | Zombies 2 | Willa | |
| 2022 | Zombies 3 | ||
| 2025 | Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires | ||
| TBD | Hidden Secrets 4: Back in Time | Mariah | Television movie, in production |
Short films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Zombies 2: Wolf Tales | Willa | Voice role |
| Addison's Moonstone Mystery | |||
| 2021 | ZOMBIES: Addison's Monster Mystery | ||
| 2023 | Zombies: The Re-Animated Series Shorts |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | American Horror Story | Older Julia | Episode: "Madness Ends" |
| 90210 | Olivia | Episode: "You Can't Win Em All" | |
| 2014 | The Haunted Hathaways | Mirabelle | 6 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street | Catherine Dillman | Main role |
| 2015 | Girl Meets World | Vanessa | Episode: "Girl Meets Texas: Part 2" |
| 2016–2019 | Lethal Weapon | Riana Murtaugh | Main role |
| 2017 | K.C. Undercover | Monique | 2 episodes |
| 2021 | The Ghost and Molly McGee | Tammy Myers (voice) | Episode: "Howlin' Harriet/The (Un)natural" |
| 2022 | Robot Chicken | Buttercup, MJ, Animal Adoption Woman (voice) | Episode: "May Cause a Squeakquel" |
| 2022–2024 | Pretty Little Liars | Tabitha "Tabby" Haworthe | Main role |
| 2024 | Dancing with the Stars | Herself | 3rd Place on season 33 |
| 2024 | Zombies: The Re-Animated Series | Willa (voice) | Main role |
| 2026 | Elle | Kimberly | Filming |
