The Underappreciated: China Anne McClain
- J.G. Nicole
- Oct 31, 2018
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 1, 2018
Today, I'm giving China Anne McClain, an African-American actress, the credit she deserves. She is the first in my log of underappreciated entertainers that I'll be shedding some light on.
China Anne McClain might be one of the most talented and underrated stars of my generation. And while that might sound like an exaggeration, I truly believe China Anne McClain is talented and equally as underrated, and might be one of the most talented actresses we've seen in a very long time, especially one produced by Disney in it's recent years.
First off, when I say she was produced by Disney, I don’t entirely mean she’s only famous for Disney, I mean a lot of what her career has been in recent years has involved a lot of Disney.
The first time China Anne McClain appeared on Disney was early in the Disney Channel Show Jonas in 2009 (the show was great but only lasted for a year), as Kiara.
After that, she became the star of the Disney Channel series called A.N.T. Farm in 2011, which aired for 3 years and had three seasons. China Anne McClain played Chyna Parks, an 11-year-old musical prodigy who skipped middle school as part of a special program called the “Advanced Natural Talent” program (hence the name). I found it to be a surprisingly fun show to watch, and the antics of the young ANTs as they adjust to being in high school with kids at least 3 - 4 years older than them. As someone who skipped a grade, I remember how hard it was to adjust to being the youngest, even if it was barely by a year. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be that young and already in high school, so it was something I was able to relate to and it captured my heart throughout all 3 seasons. In addition to that, she sings most of the songs on the soundtrack for the show, including a cover of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite”, as well as several other Disney soundtracks.
In order of seasons, McClain is seen posing alongside her costars for season premiere posters.
In the same year her show ended, she starred in a Disney Channel Original Movie (also known as DCOM) called How to Build a Better Boy where she plays the super intelligent best friend. This movie actually takes the stereotypical obsession with boys that teenage girls have to a whole new level, when China’s character, Gabby, hack’s into the Pentagon’s database to build a boyfriend for her best friend, Mae, to help Mae cover a lie she told about having a boyfriend. Originally, it was just supposed to be a virtual boyfriend created using software Mae’s dad created that they believed was for creating HD video game characters, until the boy turned up at their school. They hadn’t been expecting the boy to be literally created, as they hadn’t known that Mae’s father actually worked for the Pentagon, or that the human looking robot boyfriend they created was originally supposed to be a super solider for the United States.
The movie is actually kinda wild, and it’s fun to watch if you like to laugh. It addresses the real issues and insecurities of teenage girls in a fun, kooky way that also includes some serious girl nerd power. China Anne McClain also sings on the main track from the movie’s soundtrack alongside her co-star, Kelli Berglund, called “Something Real”.
Most recently, McClain starred in another DCOM, Descendants 2, which aired last year. In the film, China plays Uma, the bitter and angry daughter of Ursula. The Descendants films are based off of a series of books about the children of Disney’s heroes and villains, and if I could find a way to explain how good these movies actually are and why without spoiling them, I would. What I will say, is that I'm very glad to see a nontraditional take on Disney films. Rather than focusing on the heroes of the stories, we get to see what life is like for the villains and their children. Both movies are heartwarming, fun to watch, and have some very good lessons that I think we all need to learn. McClain is currently expected to reprise her role in the third Descendants film expected to premiere in the summer of 2019.
This is a surprising and very different role for China, as she stars as the main antagonist in the movie. Normally, we only see her playing the good girl, protagonist, or any otherwise positive roles. This would be the first time she’s played the villain and let me just tell you that her evil laugh, her angry sneer, and even the mini tantrum she throws when he plans are thwarted are not only realistic, but just the kind of fiery and vengeful spirit we would expect to see from Ursula’s daughter. Not to mention she looks wonderful throughout the movie, and her performances (because it's not a Disney movie if it isn't a musical) were top notch. You can't even tell she's lip syncing, which is something you tend to notice when you also sing. My favorite performance of hers is when we first meet her character, Uma. She performs a song on the soundtrack, "What's My Name", surrounded by ratty, very convincing pirates.
Aside from McClain, there are many great actors who play great characters and I highly, highly recommend everyone watch the movies. They’re heartwarming, funny, and the adventures we see these young teenagers go on is unmatched. Let’s not forget that, currently, Descendants is Disney’s most successful film in recent years and if you grew up in the era of High School Musical then you’re more than likely to enjoy these movies since a Disney favorite, the director and choreographer for the HSM films, Kenny Ortega comes back to lend his genius and let me tell you it paid off.
But of course these are just her Disney works. China Anne McClain has been a renowned actress (even if no one realizes it) since long before Disney got a chance to pick her up.
As I mentioned earlier, you might recognize her face if you’re a Tyler Perry fan. I make the joke about recognizing her if you’re a black woman because anytime I’ve asked one of my relatives if they know her, the first thing they bring up is her role in the hit Tyler Perry show, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, a show that aired in 2007 and was on for 5 years.
China Anne played the spunky, sassy, and adorable young daughter Jazmine Payne. China is actually well known for this role, but is also well known for her first introduction to Tyler Perry’s films where she starred alongside her sister’s Sierra and Lauren (who form a girl group known as McClain, formerly The McClain Sisters) in Daddy’s Little Girls.
It’s worth noting that the trio of sisters also starred together for two episodes of China’s Disney show as a girl group called Trifecta. The episodes follow what happens when a member of Chyna’s favorite girl group is kicked out just before a concert and upon seeing that Chyna was a fan who knew all the words and choreography they invited her to be the new member of the group and go on tour with them.
It’s also worth noting that, as The McClain Sisters, the trio has released several songs for Disney, including “Rise” for the Disneynature film Chimpanzee, and “The Great Divide” from the Disney Fairies movie, Secret of the Wings.
So it isn’t just that China Anne McClain is a great actress, she’s an amazing singer and comes from a talented family. She can clearly take on any role for anything you give her, and she’s been acting since 2005 (her first role having been in a movie called The Gospel), so it makes sense that she’s learned some incredible skills like crying on command, engaging her audience, reactive facial expressions, honestly I could go on and on and on.
And the work I’ve mentioned isn’t all she’s done. China Anne McClain actually starred alongside Sierra McCormick and Jake Short (who played Chyna’s best friends Olive and Fletcher on A.N.T. Farm) in the 2009 film Jack and Janet Save the Planet. That same year, she had a main role in Hurricane Season alongside seasoned actors Forest Whitaker and Taraji P. Henson (another Tyler Perry alumna and favorite of mine) as well as Hip Hop icons Bow Wow and Lil Wayne.
She’s also had roles in Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2, with another lineup of seasoned actors and comedians such as Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Kevin James, and Maya Rudolph, as well as Mexican-American telenovela star Salma Hayek. In addition to those, she’s offered her voice in the continuation of classic Christian preschool TV series known as VeggieTales, the 2016 animated film Sheep & Wolves, and even Dubai’s first animated film Bilal: A New Breed of Hero.
Speaking of heroes, China Anne McClain is currently starring in the CW series Black Lightning.
China Anne plays Jennifer Pierce, a DC superhero later known as Lightning on the show and this is where her “crying on command” skills show through. Without spoiling, let’s just say that she is very good at portraying what strength and fear looks like in a teenage girl, as well as things like the affect of family secrets, an epidemic of drugs in an already struggling community, and struggling to accept change (especially when that change is your powers surfacing).
The show airs on the CW and can be streamed on Netflix, and the show returned with season 2 in early October.
So yeah, with China Anne McClain’s history in music, her 13 year long acting career, the talented family she comes from, and the work she’s done alongside many renowned, seasoned actors, directors, producers, and even comedians all establish her as a seasoned actress in her own right and the fact she isn’t a household name across the U.S. is bogus as far as I’m concerned. For someone who is only 19 years old, her incredible amount of talent and success are unprecedented and uncommon. She is arguably one of the most underrated African-American actresses, and in general one of the most underrated stars, of our time and she deserves far more recognition than she’s been given.
Thankfully, the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have at least attempted to shine a light on her talent. She’s been nominated for 6 awards between the two groups, with the exception of one nomination in 2011 for the Teen Icon Awards for Icon To Tomorrow. For her work on A.N.T. Farm, she was nominated to receive an NAACP Image Award three years in a row starting in 2011 for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/ Children's Program; however, she only won in 2014. As for the remaining two nominations, China Anne McClain actually won her first award at the NAMIC Vision Awards when she was just 13 years old in 2011 after she was nominated for Best Performance - Actress of Comedy for her work on House of Payne and won the same award in 2014 for A.N.T. Farm.
I wouldn’t say this is enough recognition to pacify me but I will say that it’s definitely a start in terms of giving China Anne McClain the recognition she deserves.
All that said, what do you think? Do you agree with me? Or do you think China Anne McClain isn’t quite there yet? Feel free to comment to let me know what you think!
Comments