A certain American Girl actress just announced some big news last night... so to celebrate, I figured I'd update my post from 2022 about where the American Girl actresses are now in 2024!
After AnnaSophia Robb starred as Samantha in Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, she starred in many movies like Because of Winn-Dixie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Bridge to Terabithia. She graduated from NYU in 2018 and got married in 2022, and her latest movie, a Netflix movie called Rebel Ridge, just released a few weeks ago.
Kelsey Lewis, who played Nellie, was in a few more TV shows in guest roles until 2008, when she took a hiatus from acting. She acted in a short film in 2017 and hasn't done any acting since, although she choreographed a short film in 2021.
Shailene Woodley was the queen of book-to-film adaptations in 2014, nine years after she starred as Felicity. She starred in The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent trilogy. She was also set to play the role of Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 before her scenes were cut. Now, she is starring in more independent movies and is also an environmental activist.
After she portrayed Elizabeth, Katie Henney appeared on TV shows like The Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon and Law and Order. Her last acting role for a bit was in 2015, although she did play one more role in the indie horror movie Before Someone Gets Hurt in 2018. Katie also went to musical theater college in New York.
Maya Ritter, who portrayed Molly, hasn't acted since 2016, when she guest-starred on the Disney Junior show Goldie and Bear. She is now a talent agent for her own talent agency, Ritter Talent Agency.
Tory Green had two more acting roles in small projects in 2007 and 2008. It can be assumed that Tory is now living a normal life, as I can't find any information about Tory post-2008.
After Abigail Breslin played the role of Kit, she took on other roles in movies like Zombieland and its sequel, Rango and Ender's Game. She also played the role of Helen Keller in the play The Miracle Worker. Her most recent role was in the 2021 movie Stillwater, and she just got married last year.
Out of all of the historical Best Friend dolls, Ruthie's actress Madison Davenport is the only one still acting. She appeared in the 2014 film Noah, TV shows like Criminal Minds and Black Mirror and even voice acted in the Kingdom Hearts video game.
Sammi Hanratty, who played Chrissa, now goes by Samantha Hanratty and acts in TV shows, most notably the Showtime 2021 series Yellowjackets. She came out as bisexual and got engaged to her boyfriend - and is now pregnant with a son!
Kaitlyn Dever, who played Gwen, had a major career breakthrough in 2019 when she played a leading role in the R-rated comedy Booksmart and the Netflix series Unbelievable. Since then, she was in the film adaptation of the play Dear Evan Hansen, the Hulu movies Rosaline and No One Will Save You, and has been cast in the TV adaptation of the video game The Last of Us.
Ariela Barer, who played Sonali, is now mostly known for playing a leading role in a Marvel Hulu series Runaways. She also guest starred on several Disney Channel shows. Their most recent role was in the 2021 reboot of Saved By The Bell. Ariela came out as a lesbian in 2016 and uses she/they pronouns.
Since Jade Pettyjohn played McKenna, she was cast in a variety of TV shows, including Nickelodeon's School of Rock and Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere. Her most recent movie, an independent movie called All My Friends Are Dead, came out this year.
Sidney Fullmer, who played Saige, played one more role in Disney's film adaptation of Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Really Bad Day before finishing public school, dating a boy, and returning to a normal life.
Since playing Isabelle, Erin Pitt has started her own photography and short film production company, MovingPix Productions, and is currently dating a boyfriend.
You probably know what Olivia Rodrigo, who played Grace, is doing now. After acting in various Disney productions, she released her first single Driver's License at the beginning of last year, which rose to the top of the charts. Her first album Sour was released in May 2021, and her most recent album Guts released in September 2023. She is the first former American Girl actress to win a Grammy... three Grammys, to be exact. She is actually currently on a concert tour!
Jolie Ledford, who played Julie in "And The Tiara Goes To...", is now acting in independent short films.
Harlie Galloway, who played Maryellen in "Maryellen and the Brightest Star", is now acting in plays. She was in her high school's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in November 2021.
Maggie Elizabeth Jones, who played Lea, is now a normal girl who has a boyfriend and runs track, and she is an event planning major at Auburn University.
Marsai Martin, who played Melody in her Amazon special, is still acting in projects such as the series Black-ish, which ended in 2022, and a voice role in the Paw Patrol movie franchise, but what's more impressive about her career post-American Girl is that when she was still in middle school, she started her own production company Genius Productions. Her company's first movie Little was released in 2019, and she produced a short-lived Disney Channel series called Saturdays and another movie called Fantasy Football.
Alyvia Alyn Lynd, who played Maryellen in her Amazon special, has been acting in TV shows like the 2019 Netflix show Daybreak since her AG role. Her most recent role was in a show called The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Nina Lu, who played Ivy in her Amazon special, is a graduate from the USC film school for screenwriting.
Hannah Nordberg, who played Julie in Ivy's Amazon special, has been voice acting in cartoons like Fancy Nancy and The Loud House. She still has been doing live-action acting, though!
Zoe Manarel, who played Z in her Amazon special, has been acting in several independent short films.
This is the big news I was talking about - Miya Cech, who played Corinne in her movie, just announced that she has been cast to play Toph Beifong in season 2 of the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix! I love ATLA, and Toph is my favorite character, so I am SO EXCITED to see her bring Toph to life! Since the Corinne movie, she also filmed a Netflix movie called You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah and an independent film called A Great Divide, which will release in November.
Miya's sister Kai Cech, who played Gwynn, has also been doing very well since the Corinne movie! An independent horror movie called Ba, which she actually filmed before Corinne, has been making the rounds at film festivals, and last year she filmed a movie called Dear Santa with Jack Black, which doesn't have a release date yet.