Background

Ethnicity: Kiernan Shipka's father is of one-half Bohemian/Czech, one-quarter German descent, with his other ancestry being English, some Scottish, and distant French. Her mother is of three-quarters Irish and one-quarter Italian ancestry. Her surname is from her Bohemian roots.

Kiernan Shipka was born on November 10, 1999, in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, to John Young Shipka, a real estate developer, and his wife, Erin Ann, a one-time queen of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. At six years old, Kiernan’s parents relocated to Los Angeles to help their daughter pursue her dreams. Shipka also has a sister.

Education

As Shipka stepped into the field of acting at a young age, she was not able to attend regular schools. She joined the Laurel Springs School for online studies. She completed her high school through online classes. She is currently taking college courses on fashion design and learning French on her time off.

Career

Kiernan Shipka made her debut on screen when she was 5 months old. She appeared in the medical drama series ER. As a baby, Shipka did commercial-print modeling. In 2006, Shipka made her acting debut with an episode of the detective series Monk. The same year, she appeared in the TV movie The Angriest Man in Suburbia.

In 2007, Shipka appeared in a small role in the TV series Cory in the House. She was seen in one-episode roles in series such as MADtv and Heroes. The same year, she performed as Molly in the movie Dimension. From 2007 to 2009, Shipka was seen in several episodes of the late-night talk show Jimmy Kennel Live!

In 2007, Kiernan Shipka bagged the role that turned out to be an essential milestone in her acting career. She was chosen to portray Sally Draper in the TV series Mad Men. It was a period drama set in the 1960s. It was aired on the AMC network. The series focused on a fictional advertising agency and the personal lives of its employees. Sally Draper was the daughter of two major characters of the series. She had a recurring presence in the first three seasons of the show. She became a regular presence from the fourth season. Sally had a troubled childhood, as she had to witness her parents’ divorce. She had strained relations with her mother. Shipka performed her part brilliantly. In 2008 and 2009, Shipka won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

In 2009, Shipka performed as Jodie in the horror movie Carriers. The film was about a group of people trying to survive a viral pandemic. Her character, Jodie, was a member of the group infected by the disease. In 2010, Shipka performed in short films such as The Ryan and Randy Show and Squeaky Clean.

In 2012, Shipka performed as herself in the series Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. In 2013, she performed as Eleanor in the movie Very Good Girls. Shipka has performed as a voice actor, too. From 2012 to 2014, she lent her voice to Jinora in the animated series The Legend of Korra. Her character was one of the lead characters of the series.

In 2013, Shipka lent her voice to Oona in three episodes of the animated series Sofia the First. In 2014, she performed as a voice actor in the English-dubbed version of the Japanese anime drama movie When Marnie Was There. She lent her voice to the titular character, Marnie.

In 2014, Shipka played Cathy Dollanganger, one of the lead roles, in the TV movie Flowers in the Attic. In 2015, she played Kat, a prominent character, in the supernatural horror The Blackcoat’s Daughter.

In 2017, Shipka appeared as B.D. Merrill in the American anthology series Feud. It was a recurring role, and she appeared in five episodes of the series. The same year, Shipka performed as a voice actor in animated series such as American Dad!, Family Guy, and Neo Yokio.

In 2018, Shipka earned another prominent role in her career. She was chosen to play Sabrina Spellman, the protagonist, in the supernatural horror series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The series features her as a character who is half-human and half-witch. It is available on Netflix. In 2019, Shipka played Ally Andrews, the lead role in the horror movie The Silence. As the character was deaf, Shipka learned sign language for the movie.

Achievements

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  In 2014, Shipka was named one of the 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014 by Time magazine. Joined by others such as Sasha Obama, Rico Rodriguez from Modern Family and Shawn Mendes, she earned her spot for her fantastic performance as Sally Draper and her role in the movie Flowers in the Attic. They also highlight her red carpet looks and her scene-stealing fashion. She was influential in a number of ways. Time predicted big things for the young actress, who was just 14 at the time, and boy were they spot on. In the same year, IndieWire included her in their list of 20 Actors To Watch That Are Under 20.
  
  She is currently the poster girl for Carolina Herrera’s 2017 Resort Collection and has modeled for many magazines recently such as Dazed, Teen Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Marie Claire and Porter (and as of recent InStyle and Wonderland Magazines).

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Lower Learning

    (Welcome to Geraldine Ferraro Elementary, where the teache...)

    2008
  • Very Good Girls

    (Two girls (Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen), both dete...)

    2013
  • When Marnie Was There

    (When shy, artistic Anna travels to the seaside to stay wi...)

    2015
  • One & Two

    (Imprisoned by their own father on their family's property...)

    2015
  • The Blackcoat's Daughter

    (2 girls must fight a mysterious evil force at a deserted ...)

    2015
  • Carriers

    (Chris Pine (Star Trek) stars in the intense and gripping ...)

    2009
  • Fan Girl

    (A teenager brings her two passions together for a film pr...)

    2015

• TV series

  • Feud: Bette and Joan

    (Ryan Murphy's FX anthology series Feud: Bette and Joan ce...)

    2017
  • Legend of Korra

    (A sequel to Konietzko and DiMartino's previous series Ava...)

  • Mad Men

    (Mad Men is an American period drama television series. Th...)

Views

Shipka enjoys playing roles that are based on women who know what they want and can stand up for themselves. In The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Sabrina and her friends set up a club called WICCA (The Women’s Intersectional Cultural and Creative Association) at Baxter High, to help their friend when they were being bullied. She also defies rules by nominating herself to be Top Boy in the Academy of Unseen Arts.

Quotations: "Any day acting is an amazing day."

"I don't think that having a hard time is inherently negative. I think that it can make you a stronger person; it can be tough and painful, but it can make you grow."

To a certain extent, I think I've tried to train myself to not dive too deep into things or get my hopes too way up because the fear of disappointment and whatnot is only natural."

Personality

Kiernan Shipka named Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn as her fashion influences. Inspired by their classic styles, she often offers input into Sally Draper’s wardrobe and has served as a guest fashion blogger for Lucky magazine. She plays the piano and guitar and writes her own music, and enjoys watching television comedies and the Food Network.

Kiernan cites such movies as Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music and Harry Potter has had inspired her in her acting career. In addition to her talents in front of the camera, she also has a black belt in taekwondo.

Kiernan prefers to read at night as it makes her tired and eventually sleeps. Whenever she goes on the shoot, she always keeps her computer, a book, and her phone in the bag. If Kiernan could switch her closets for a day with anyone in the world, she would probably do that with Alexa Chung.

Interests

• theatre, fashion

• Writers

  Sylvia Plath, Tao Lin, J. D. Salinger, Erin Morgenstern, Haruki Murakami

• Artists

  Miu Miu, Valentino

• Sport & Clubs

  Muay Thai, taekwondo

• Music & Bands

  David Bowie, Mitski, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Phoebe Bridgers, Fiona Apple

Connections

Kiernan Shipka is reportedly single.

Father:

John Young Shipka

Mother:

Erin Ann Shipka

colleague:

Emma Roberts

colleague:

Eva Longoria

colleague:

Chris Pine

colleague:

Emily VanCamp

colleague:

Demi Moore

colleague:

Peter Sarsgaard

colleague:

Hailee Steinfeld

colleague:

Jon Hamm

colleague:

Elisabeth Moss

colleague:

Jessica Lange

colleague:

Kathy Bates

References

• Kiernan Shipka on Instagram
• Kiernan Shipka on Facebook