Whitney Peak (actress)

Born in Kampala, Uganda, in 2003, Peak is the youngest daughter of a Ugandan hairdresser and a Canadian pilot and engineer. Her family is Muslim.^[1] She attended boarding school at Hillside Primary School-Naalya, was a competitive swimmer, and travelled with her father as a child.^[2] Her family relocated to Canada in 2012, settling in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia where Peak switched to a public school, including Terry Fox Secondary.^[3][4]

After moving to Canada, Peak received the chance to audition for a project before realizing that it was a scam. However, she was able to find and agent and received bit parts in the TV movie Campfire Kiss and the film Molly's Game. She also featured in the TV shows Legends of Tomorrow, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, iZombie, and Home Before Dark. ^[5]

In 2019, Peak submitted an audition for the role of Zoya Lott in the Gossip Girl reboot. The directors were so taken with her audition that she immediately got the role, marking her first leading role. The show ran from 2021 to 2023 and was cancelled after two seasons. In 2022, she starred as Becca in Hocus Pocus 2, a sequel to Kenny Ortega's Halloween film. After featuring on the podcast Big Envelopes and the short film Wait, Your Car?, Peak returned to the screen in 2025 as Anna Reeves in Eye For An Eye and Yvonne Reynolds in Trap House. In 2026, she starred as Dakota Edwards in Netflix's thriller Thrash, which aired to mixed reviews. ^[6][7][8][9]

In April of 2026, the film 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank was released for critics, receiving largely positive reviews, and is set to release in theaters August of 2026. In 2025, Peak was cast in the leading role of Lenore Dove in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which will air November 20, 2026. ^[10][11]

Peak has discussed her privileges as a biracial woman and spoken on the confusion of being perceived as white in Uganda and a person of color in Canada. She has also spoken for the need of greater diversity in entertainment. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she said "Race, ethnicity, religion, shape, size, sex—all these shouldn’t matter." and emphasized her belief that people from all backgrounds should have equal opportunity.^{[12] [13]}

In 2021, Peak was named as a brand ambassador in the United States for the house of Chanel.^[14] In 2023, Peak was appointed as the face of Chanel fragrance Coco Mademoiselle.^[15]