Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#338
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Mckenna Grace works on versatility rather than volume, and the catalogue keeps proving that the quieter choice was the correct one.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Mckenna Grace appears in 30 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Mckenna. Gifted is the clearest case: a film rated 8.0 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for science fiction, comedy, horror. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Amy Wang, Kevin Williamson, Lee Kirk and others, Mckenna Grace helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Gifted (2017) as Mary Adler · PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026) as Skye (voice) · Ready Player One (2018) as Elementary Kid
Career snapshot
Ranked #338 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
30
2013–2026
Career length
13 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.0
Gifted
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.0
Gifted
Most frequent director
Amy Wang
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Amy Wang
Most common genre
Comedy
13 titles
Average runtime
1h 42m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.3
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.7 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Captain Marvel, Annabelle Comes Home, Troop Zero — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.7
Across 13 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2010s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Captain Marvel, Annabelle Comes Home, Troop Zero.
Most productive era
2020s
17 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.15 films | 6.83 films |
| Action | 6.63 films | 3.32 films |
| Thriller | 7.11 film | 6.74 films |
| Comedy | 6.86 films | 5.97 films |
| Crime | — | 6.51 film |
| Romance | — | 7.11 film |
| Horror | 6.33 films | 6.65 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2013Goodbye World
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Hannah.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2017Gifted
8.0 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
The current state of the argument, as Maysilee Donner / Merrilee Donner.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
30 of 30 films
as Skye (voice)
Directed by Unknown
as Phoebe
Directed by Jason Reitman
as Clara Grant
Directed by Josh Boone
as Emma Grossman
Directed by Unknown
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Mary Adler
Gifted (2017)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Mary Adler gives Mckenna Grace a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Skye (voice)
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026)
Performance score7.9
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Skye (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Phoebe
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Performance score7.9
Ghostbusters: Afterlife asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Phoebe is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Clara Grant
Regretting You (2025)
Performance score7.7
Regretting You asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Clara Grant is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Mary Adler
Start here. Gifted is the clearest statement of what Mckenna Grace does — accessible, 101 minutes, and rated 8.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Mckenna at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Keeps the comedy register of Gifted but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Bad Seed Returns (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Ghostbusters: Afterlife — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Regretting You (2025)
A deliberate change of key after The Bad Seed Returns — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Regretting You — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Roland Emmerich
Director
1 film together
Notably Independence Day: Resurgence
Bruce Beresford
Director
1 film together
Notably Mr. Church
Ken Marino
Director
1 film together
Notably How to Be a Latin Lover
Craig Gillespie
Director
1 film together
Notably I, Tonya
Marc Webb
Director
1 film together
Notably Gifted
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Ready Player One
Rob Lowe
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bad Seed
Bert
Director
1 film together
Notably Troop Zero
Gary Dauberman
Director
1 film together
Notably Annabelle Comes Home
Ryan Fleck
Director
1 film together
Notably Captain Marvel
Tony Cervone
Director
1 film together
Notably Scoob!
James Wan
Director
1 film together
Notably Malignant
Jason Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Elaine Bogan
Director
1 film together
Notably Spirit Untamed
Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Director
1 film together
Notably Crater
Josh Boone
Director
1 film together
Notably Regretting You
Jan Komasa
Director
1 film together
Notably Anniversary
Francis Lawrence
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
Lee Kirk
Director
1 film together
Notably Nimrods
Kevin Williamson
Director
1 film together
Notably Scream 7
Amy Wang
Director
1 film together
Notably Slanted
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Marc Webb
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GiftedSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ready Player OneCraig Gillespie
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
I, TonyaBruce Beresford
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mr. ChurchElaine Bogan
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spirit UntamedJason Reitman
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ghostbusters: AfterlifeJosh Boone
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Regretting YouRob Lowe
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Bad SeedTony Cervone
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scoob!Bert
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Troop ZeroJan Komasa
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AnniversaryKen Marino
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How to Be a Latin LoverJames Wan
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MalignantRyan Fleck
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Captain MarvelKyle Patrick Alvarez
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CraterKevin Williamson
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scream 7Gary Dauberman
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Annabelle Comes HomeAmy Wang
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SlantedRoland Emmerich
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Independence Day: ResurgenceLee Kirk
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NimrodsFrancis Lawrence
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the ReapingSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Gifted
as Mary Adler
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Regretting You
as Clara Grant
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Gifted
as Mary Adler
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Ready Player One
as Elementary Kid
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Gifted
as Mary Adler
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Mckenna Grace has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
13 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Gifted
as Mary Adler
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Malignant
as Young Madison
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Regretting You
as Clara Grant
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
What We Hide
as Spider
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Ready Player One
as Elementary Kid
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Ready Player One
as Elementary Kid
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Spirit Untamed
as Abigail Stone (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Scream 7
as Hannah Thurman
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
David Krumholtz
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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