Jenna Michelle Boyd (born March 4, 1993) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress with roles in the 2003 films '' The Hunted'', '' Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star'' and '' The Missing'', and the 2005 film ''

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'' is a series of five bestselling young adult novels by Ann Brashares: ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2001),'' ''The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (2003),'' '' Girls in Pants'' (2005), '' Foreve ...

''. On television, she appeared on all four seasons of 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 ...

comedy-drama ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. It focuses on the life of 18-year-old Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist), who is on the autism spectrum. The first season was released on August 11, 2017, ...

'' (2017–2021).

Early life, education and family

Boyd was born in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She was discovered at age two in a modeling search. She and her parents and younger brother Cayden (also an actor) moved to

Los Angeles 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' ...

to pursue her acting career. In September 2019, she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma as part of the Tulsa Remote program. She is a graduate of

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

, where she earned a business degree.

Career

Boyd began her career at age three, appearing in episodes of the children's TV show ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomorp ...

''. She simultaneously acted and figure skated. In '' Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star'' she played the daughter of a family hired by the titular character (

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

) to help him recapture his childhood. Boyd's big break came when she was cast in '' The Missing'', alongside

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...

and

Evan Rachel Wood Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress and activist. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work in ...

. Although the film itself was not particularly well received, critics paid Boyd's performance. In 2005 Boyd played

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

-suffering Bailey Graffman in ''

''. She appeared in the

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

miniseries '' The Gathering'' as the daughter of a doctor (

Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series ''The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, recurr ...

) searching for his wife; and in the ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'' episode "Children of Ghosts", as a troubled teenager living in a

foster home Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

. In 2017, she had the recurring role of Paige Hardaway, girlfriend of the autistic main character Sam Gardner, in the Netflix series ''

''. In 2017 she stated that she had become a consultant for the

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

company

Rodan + Fields Rodan & Fields, LLC, known as Rodan + Fields or R+F, is an American multi-level marketing company specializing in skincare products. Katie Rodan and Kathy A. Fields, creators of Proactiv, started the Rodan + Fields brand in 2002 and sold it a ye ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Jenna 1993 births Living people Actresses from Dallas American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Pepperdine University alumni 21st-century American actresses