Amanda Joy Michalka ( ; born April 10, 1991) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, record producer and voice actress who is best known as one half of the musical duo

Aly & AJ Aly & AJ are an American pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ) and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2004. Their debut album, ''Into the Rush'', debuted at number 36 on the US ''Bil ...

(briefly 78violet), alongside her older sister

Aly Michalka Alyson Renae Michalka ( ; born March 25, 1989) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence with her starring role as Keely Teslow in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Phil of the Future'' (2004–2006). Aly Michalka w ...

. She has appeared in films such as ''

The Lovely Bones ''The Lovely Bones'' is a 2002 novel by American writer Alice Sebold. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she ...

'' (2008), ''

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

'' (2010), '' Super 8'' (2011), ''

Grace Unplugged ''Grace Unplugged'' is a 2013 Christian drama film. The film is based on the parable of The Prodigal Son and a story by Brandon Rice, written and directed by Brad J. Silverman, and stars AJ Michalka, Jamie Grace, Shawnee Smith, James Denton, and ...

'' (2013), ''

Weepah Way for Now ''Weepah Way for Now'' is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephen Ringer and starring Aly Michalka and AJ Michalka. Premise Elle and Joy are two sisters apart by two years. The two are singers and are living together aw ...

'' (2015), and ''

Support the Girls ''Support the Girls'' is a 2018 American comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It stars Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker, Jana Kramer, John Elvis, Lea DeLaria, ...

'' (2018). Michalka also starred in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) and its spin-off series '' Schooled'' (2019–2020). She is also known for voicing a lead role as

Catra Catra is a fictional character in the toyline, and animated television series, '' She-Ra: Princess of Power'' (1985–86), which is part of the Masters of the Universe franchise. In the 2018 reboot, ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'', Catra i ...

in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

animated adventure series ''

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' is an American Animated series, animated streaming television series developed by ND Stevenson and produced by DreamWorks Animation Television. Like the 1985 Filmation series ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' ...

'' (2018–2020).

Early life

Michalka was born and raised in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

and is the younger sister of actress and musician

. Her father, Mark, owns a contracting company, and her mother, Carrie, is a musician and performed with the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band "JC Band". Her parents are divorced. As a little girl, she briefly lived in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. Both she and her sister attended Mack Elementary. She has played the piano since she was six and started playing the guitar in her early life. She started acting when she was five, mostly in church play productions. She was raised as a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and homeschooled for part of her childhood.Grounded in Faith – Today's Christian
Michalka was in a number of musical productions at her school in

as a young woman.

Career

Amanda Joy (AJ) Michalka - September 2007

She plays a variety of

instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...

such as

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, electric guitar, and piano. She was a model for catalogs. In 2006 she made her

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 ...

debut in the

Disney Channel Original Movie Many television films have been produced for Disney Channel, an American family-oriented basic cable channel and former premium television channel since its launch on April 18, 1983. Until October 1997, films were released under the banner nam ...

Cow Belles ''Cow Belles'' is a 2006 romantic teen comedy Disney Channel Original film that stars American pop recording artists Alyson Michalka and Amanda Michalka, better known as sister duo Aly & AJ. It premiered on March 24, 2006 on the Disney Channel ...

'', as "Courtney Callum", along with sister Aly, as "Taylor Callum". She has also appeared on shows such as ''

Oliver Beene ''Oliver Beene'' is an American sitcom that premiered on Fox on March 9, 2003. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Beene (played by Grant R ...

'', '' Six Feet Under'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

''. She and her sister appeared in the MTV film '' Super Sweet 16: The Movie.'' In 2009 she was featured in the

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

film ''

'', released widely on January 15, 2010. From 2009 to 2013 Michalka and her sister performed as the musical duo

78violet Aly & AJ are an American pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ) and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2004. Their debut album, ''Into the Rush'', debuted at number 36 on the US ''Bil ...

. They decided to change its name back to "Aly and AJ" in 2015. She was cast as a

recurring character A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main foc ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

series ''

Hellcats ''Hellcats'' is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010, to May 17, 2011. Based on the book ''Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders'' b ...

'' starring

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

and her sister Aly Michalka. The series ran for one season and was cancelled in May 2011. Michalka appeared in the 2011 film '' Super 8'', directed by

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

. Her first big-screen starring role was as the title character in 2013's ''

''. Since 2013, Michalka has had a recurring role on the ABC sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' as Lainey Lewis, the best friend of main character Erica Goldberg and one-time girlfriend of Erica's brother, Barry. In May 2015, it was announced that she was promoted to series regular for the show's upcoming third season. She also played the Lainey character in a lead role on the spinoff series '' Schooled'', which ran for two seasons. Michalka voices the character Stevonnie in ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who li ...

'', a fusion of the protagonist Steven and his best friend Connie. In July 2014, she and her sister filmed an untitled drama in

Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighb ...

, California. The film was directed and written by Aly's husband, Stephen Ringer. Michalka was one of the producers of the film, with her sister and Ringer, and participated in the casting process. In May 2015, it was announced that the film, ''

'', would premiere at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

on June 16, 2015. The film was released on DVD, iTunes, and other streaming platforms in June 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michalka, AJ 1991 births Living people Actors from Torrance, California Actresses from California Actresses from Seattle Aly & AJ American child actresses American child singers American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American film actresses American performers of Christian music American television actresses American women guitarists Guitarists from California Guitarists from Washington (state) Hollywood Records artists Musicians from Seattle Musicians from Torrance, California Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from Washington (state)