Skai Jackson – B. 2002
Skai began her career as a child model appearing in commercials for several national brands, including for Band-Aid bandages.
Her first major acting role was in the independent film “Liberty Kid” (2007), followed by other films such as “Rescue Me” (2008) and “The Rebound” (2009).
In 2009, she was a cast member of the Nickelodeon preschool animated series “Bubble Guppies,” where she was the voice of Little Fish. From 2010 to 2011, she guest starred in television series “Team Umizoomi,” “Royal Pains” and “Boardwalk Empire.” She also had small role roles in the 2011 films “Arthur” and “The Smurfs“.
In 2011, she was cast in her current role as Zuri Ross in the Disney Channel sitcom “Jessie.”
Amandla Stenberg – B. 1998
Named for the Zulu word for “power,” Amandla started her career as a model. She landed the first of her Disney catalog modeling shoots when she was 4 years old and has since shot many national commercials, most notably for McDonald’s with Ronald McDonald and for Walmart with DJ Tony.
In 2011, she appeared in her first feature film, “Colombiana,” as a younger version of actor Zoe Saldana’s character. Amandla’s career breakthrough came when she was cast as Rue in the 2012 smash film, “The Hunger Games.” In February 2012, it was announced that she would appear in “Rio 2” as Bia, one of Blu and Jewel’s daughters.
