Mikaela Hoover

Mikaela was born to Frank and Nancy Hoover (née Mehrizi) on July 12, 1984,^[1][2] in Colbert, Washington. Her father is of Italian and German descent and her mother is Iranian-American.^[3][4] She started taking dance classes at the age of two and starred in school plays and appeared in local commercials as a child. She was accepted to Loyola Marymount University's theatre program in Los Angeles and graduated with her bachelor's degree in theatre.^[4][5]

Hoover made her acting debut in 2007 with a role in the independent film Frank.^[6] She later booked a leading part in the web series Sorority Forever (2008).^[7] Around the same time, she auditioned for director James Gunn and appeared in his project Humanzee! (2008).^[8] This led to her being cast in the lead role of the Gunn and Peter Safran–produced Xbox series Sparky & Mikaela.^[9][10]

In 2010, Hoover began appearing in American television productions, including a guest role on How I Met Your Mother.^[11] That same year, she played a supporting role in Gunn's dark comedy film Super (2010).^[10]

She went on to make guest appearances on several sitcoms and comedy series. In 2011, she portrayed Jackie in two episodes of Happy Endings,^[12] and in 2012 she appeared in an episode of Anger Management.^[13] In 2013, she guest-starred in Two and a Half Men and The League,^[14] followed by an appearance on Saint George in 2014.^[15]

Hoover continued her collaborations with James Gunn, appearing as Nova Prime's assistant in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).^[15] She later played Raziya Memarian in The Belko Experiment (2016), produced by Gunn.^[15]

In 2017, her television work included single-episode roles in 2 Broke Girls, The Guest Book, and Lucifer.^[16] She returned to feature films with supporting appearances in The Suicide Squad (2021)^[17] and the comedy Guest House (2020).^[18] That same year, she was part of the main cast of the Netflix romantic comedy Holidate.^[16] She followed this with another starring role in Netflix's Love Hard (2021).^[19]

Hoover was later cast as Cat Grant in James Gunn's Superman for DC Studios.^[20]

In 2025, it was announced that she had joined the main cast for the second season of Netflix's series One Piece,^[21] providing the voice of Tony Tony Chopper.^[22] The season aired in 2026.^[22]