AJ Michalka

Amanda Joy Michalka (/miːˈʃɑːkə/ mee-SHAH-kah;[1] born April 10, 1991)[2] is an American actress, voice actress, singer-songwriter, and musician. She is best known as one half of the musical duo Aly & AJ (formerly 78violet), alongside her sister Aly Michalka. She has appeared in films such as The Lovely Bones (2008), Secretariat (2010), Super 8 (2011), Grace Unplugged (2013), Weepah Way for Now (2015), and Support the Girls (2018). Michalka also starred in the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs (2013–present) and its spin-off series Schooled (2019–2020). She voiced a lead role as Catra in the Netflix animated adventure series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018–2020).[3]

AJ Michalka
Michalka at the 2019 WonderCon
Born	Amanda Joy Michalka April 10, 1991 Torrance, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress voice actress singer songwriter guitarist
Years active	2002–present
Relatives	Aly Michalka (sister)
Musical career
Genres	Acoustic rock pop pop rock electropop
Instruments	Vocals guitar piano
Labels	Hollywood Independent
Associated acts	Aly & AJ

Early life

Michalka was born and raised in Torrance, California and is the younger sister of actress and musician Aly Michalka. Her father, Mark, owns a contracting company, and her mother, Carrie, is a musician and performed with the Christian rock band "JC Band". Her parents are divorced. As a little girl, she briefly lived in Seattle and Milwaukee.[4][5] 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 and homeschooled for part of her childhood.[6][7][8] Michalka was in a number of musical productions at her school in Milwaukee as a young woman.[7]

Career

Michalka performing in 2007

She plays a variety of instruments such as acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and piano. She was a model for catalogs. In 2006 she made her Disney Channel debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles, as "Courtney Callum," along with sister Aly, as "Taylor Callum." She has also appeared on shows such as Oliver Beene, Six Feet Under, The Guardian, and General Hospital.[7][8][9] She and her sister appeared in the MTV film Super Sweet 16: The Movie.

In 2009 she was featured in the Peter Jackson film The Lovely Bones, released widely on January 15, 2010.[10]

From 2009 to 2013 Michalka and her sister performed as the musical duo 78violet. They decided to change its name back to "Aly and AJ" in 2015. She was cast as a recurring character on The CW series Hellcats[11] starring Ashley Tisdale 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. Her first big-screen starring role was as the title character in 2013's Grace Unplugged.

Since 2013 Michalka has had a recurring role on the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs as Lainey Lewis, the girlfriend of one of the main characters. In May 2015 it was announced that she would be a series regular for the show's upcoming third season.[12] She also plays this character on the spinoff series Schooled. She also voices the character, Stevonnie in Steven Universe, 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, 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, Weepah Way for Now, would premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, 2015. The film was released on DVD, iTunes, and other streaming platforms in June 2016.[13]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	The Lovely Bones	Clarissa
2010	Slow Moe	Emily
2010	Secretariat	Kate Tweedy
2011	Super 8	Jen
2013	Grace Unplugged	Grace Trey
2013	Angels in Stardust	Vallie Sue
2015	Weepah Way for Now	Joy	Also co-producer
2016	Dirty Lies	Tiffany
2017	Apple of My Eye	Kai
2018	Support the Girls	Krista

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Passions	Sheridan's Daughter	1 episode
2002	Birds of Prey	Young Dinah Lance	Episode: "Pilot"
2004	General Hospital	Ashley B.	2 episodes
2004	Six Feet Under	Ashley	2 episodes
2002–2004	The Guardian	Shannon Gressler	Recurring role (seasons 2–3), 15 episodes; as Amanda Michalka
2003–2004	Oliver Beene	Bonnie	Recurring role, 9 episodes; as Amanda Michalka
2006	Cow Belles	Courtney Callum	Television film
2006	Haversham Hall	Hope Mason	Unaired television pilot
2007	Punk'd	Herself	Episode dated May 29, 2007
2007	Super Sweet 16: The Movie	Sara Connors	Television film
2007	Aly & AJ: Sister Act	Herself	MTV television special
2011	Hellcats	Deirdre Perkins	3 episodes
2011	Salem Falls	Gillian Duncan	Television film
2013–present	The Goldbergs	Lainey Lewis	Recurring role (seasons 1–2, 5); main role (seasons 3–4, early season 6); guest (Season 7)
2014	Silicon Valley	Charlotte	Episode: "Proof of Concept"
2014	Motive	Emily Williams	Episode: "Dead End"
2014	Expecting Amish	Hannah Yoder	Television film
2015–2019	Steven Universe	Stevonnie	Recurring voice role; 8 episodes
2016	Cupcake Wars	Herself / Contestant	Celebrity special
2016	All My Friends Are Getting Married	Chloe	Web series; 6 episodes
2018	Celebrity Family Feud	Herself	Episode: "Aly Michalka & AJ Michalka vs. Adrienne Houghton"
2018–2020	She-Ra and the Princesses of Power	Catra	Main voice role
2019–2020	Schooled	Lainey Lewis	Main role
2020	The Disney Family Singalong	Herself	Television special

Music video

Year	Title	Artist(s)	Role	Ref.
2012	"Gotten"	Slash featuring Adam Levine	Joanna Martin	[14]

Discography

Soundtrack appearances

Year	Track	Album
2010	"It's Who You Are"	Secretariat
2013	"All I've Ever Needed"	Grace Unplugged
	"Desert Song"
	"You Never Let Go"
	"Misunderstood"
2017	"Here Comes a Thought" (with Estelle)	Steven Universe, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack)
	"Tom Sawyer" (with Hayley Orrantia)	The Goldbergs Mixtape
	"Eternal Flame" (with Hayley Orrantia)
	"Walking on Sunshine" (with Hayley Orrantia)
2018	"We Deserve to Shine" (with Zach Callison, Grace Rolek, Estelle, Deedee Magno Hall, Michaela Dietz, Charlyne Yi and Erica Luttrell)	None
2019	"Escapism" (with Zach Callison and Grace Rolek)	Steven Universe, Vol. 2 (Original Soundtrack)
2020	"Warriors"	The Music of She-ra

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2006	American Music Awards	Contemporary Inspirational Artists of the Year	Into the Rush	Nominated
2014	Movieguide Awards	Most Inspiring Performance in Movies	Grace Unplugged	Won
2015	Napa Film Festival	Special Jury Award-Acting in a Lounge Feature Film (shared with Aly Michalka)	Weepah Way for Now	Won
2017	Behind the Voice Actor Awards	Best Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role	Steven Universe	Won

References

1. Semigran, Aly (August 14, 2009). "Aly Michalka, actor and musician". Entertainment Weekly.
2. "Family Tree Legends". Family Tree Legends. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
3. "She-Ra gets a makeover! A first look at the new Netflix series and meet the cast". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
4. Axson, Scooby (July 7, 2006). "Article: Pop sisters: Better known for their acting, Aly and AJ leap onto music... | AccessMyLibrary – Promoting library advocacy". AccessMyLibrary. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
5. "Tweenage Riot". Blender Magazine. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
6. "78 Violet, 11/05 – Interviews – Christian Music Today". Christianitytoday.com. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
7. "Tweenage Riot Article on Blender". Blender.com. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
8. Grounded in Faith – Today's Christian Archived June 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
9. Argyrakis, Andy (November 14, 2005). "Away from the Rush". Christianity Today. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
10. Graff, Gary (January 10, 2008). "Aly & AJ Writing New Songs, Plot Films". Billboard. Brightspot. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
11. Valiente, Maria (January 20, 2011). "Hellcats Star Aly Michalka Reveals AJ's Character's Name!". Wetpaint.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
12. Goldberg, Lesley (May 18, 2015). "'The Goldbergs' Promotes AJ Michalka to Series Regular". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
13. Kilday, Gregg (May 5, 2015). "Los Angeles Film Festival Unveils Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
14. Slash – Gotten featuring Adam Levine on YouTube

External links

• AJ Michalka at IMDb 
• AJ Michalka on Instagram
• Aly & AJ on Twitter