Ava Grace Kolker (born December 5, 2006) is an American

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

. Kolker's roles include Ava Morgenstern on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

series ''

Girl Meets World ''Girl Meets World'' is an American comedy television series created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014. The series ran for three seasons, consisting of 72 episodes, and concluded on January 2 ...

'' (2014–2017), and Olive Rozalski on ''

Sydney to the Max ''Sydney to the Max'' is an American comedy television series created by Mark Reisman that aired on Disney Channel from January 25, 2019 to November 26, 2021. The series stars Ruth Righi, Ava Kolker, Jackson Dollinger, Christian J. Simon, Ian Ree ...

'' (2019–2021). In film, she portrayed Lily in ''

Scary Movie 5 ''Scary Movie 5'' (stylized on-screen as ''Scary MoVie'') is a 2013 American comedy horror film. It is the standalone sequel to ''Scary Movie 4'' and the fifth and final installment in the ''Scary Movie'' film series. It is the second film to be ...

'' (2013), Heather in ''

Miss Meadows ''Miss Meadows'' is a 2014 American dark comedy thriller film written and directed by Karen Leigh Hopkins. The film stars Katie Holmes, James Badge Dale, Callan Mulvey and Stephen Bishop. The film was released on November 14, 2014, by Entertain ...

'' (2014), Boot in ''Message from the King'' (2016) and Young Elise Rainer in '' Insidious: The Last Key'' (2018).

Early life

Kolker was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

then moved one year to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. She has three sisters, Kayla Kolker, Jade Kolker and Lexy Kolker, also an actress, who is best known for playing Chloe in the 2018 horror film ''Freaks''.

Career

2011–2014: Early roles

Kolker began acting in 2011 at a young age, making her debut with a guest appearance on the television horror series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

''. A year later, she appeared in her first film, starring as Marybeth Geitzen in the

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film ''Golden Winter''. In 2013, she was cast as Lily in the

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film ''

'', the final installment in the

Scary Movie film series ''Scary Movie'' is an American horror comedy film series that comprises five parody films mainly focusing on spoofing horror films. The films have collectively grossed almost $900 million worldwide at the box office. The two recurring actresses ...

, which was commercially successful. and in the same year appeared in the

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film ''

The Trials of Cate McCall ''The Trials of Cate McCall'' is a 2013 American drama film directed and written by Karen Moncrieff and stars Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte and Clancy Brown in pivotal roles. Plot Cate McCall (Kate Beckinsale) is a lawyer, an alcoholic in recover ...

'' as Augie. In 2014, she played Heather in the thriller film ''

''.

2015–present: Breakthrough and current work

Kolker has made various guest appearances on television series such as '' Dads'', ''

Sam & Cat ''Sam & Cat'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired from June 8, 2013, to July 17, 2014, on Nickelodeon. It is a spin-off of two TV shows '' iCarly'' and ''Victorious'', which Dan Schneider also created. It stars Jennette McCurdy as ...

'', and ''

Black-ish ''Black-ish'' (stylized as black·''ish'', `black·''ish'', and black''ish'') is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, to April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons. ''Black-ish'' ...

''. In 2015, Kolker was cast in the recurring role of Ava Morgenstern on

television series ''

'', the spinoff to ''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and famil ...

''. For the role, she received a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

nomination. In the year following, she appeared in the horror film ''The Axe Murders of Villisca'' as Ingrid, the

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

film ''Message from the King'' as Boot, and the drama

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

''Sister Cities'' as Young Austin. In 2017, Kolker made guest appearances on the comedy series ''

White Famous ''White Famous'' is an American sitcom starring Jay Pharoah, based on the life of Jamie Foxx, which aired on Showtime from October 15, 2017 until December 10, 2017. It is co-created by Tom Kapinos, Chris Spencer and Buddy Lewis, directed by Tim ...

'' as Maddie, and the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

series ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and L ...

'' as 12-year old Robin, portraying an older version of the character who was played by her sister Lexy as an 8-year old. In 2018, Kolker was cast on the Disney Channel sitcom ''

'', playing the main character of Olive. In the same year, she appeared as Young Elise Rainier in the film '' Insidious: The Last Key'', the fourth film in the Insidious franchise. The film was a commercial success. She also starred as Aeloo in the fantasy film ''A Fairy's Game''. In 2019, she was cast in a minor voice role in the film ''Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs'', which will be released theatrically in September 2020. Kolker released her debut single, "The Good Ones" in July 2019. In 2020, she released the follow-up singles "Eventually" and "When Will It Be Tomorrow"; the latter of which was released through

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolker, Ava 2006 births Living people American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from California