China Anne McClain

China Anne McClain started singing at a young age, mostly thanks to her father, music producer Michael McClain. Her early affection for music led her to acting, as she wound up appearing in the Idris Elba-starring drama "The Gospel" (2005) at the age of 8.

Around the same time, China and her two sisters, Lauryn and Sierra, began to create music, even coming up with their own choreography and dance routines as the act 3McClainGirls. Tyler Perry took notice of China and cast her as a lead in "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS 2007-2012) and also cast all three McClain girls in "Daddy's Little Girls" (2007).

Throughout the next few years, China regularly appeared in other projects, including a guest spot on "Hannah Montana" (Disney 2006-2011) and a co-starring role in Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups" (2010) and "Grown Ups 2" (2013). As her time on "House of Payne" came to a close, China wound up starring in "A.N.T. Farm" (Disney 2011-14), which also let her and her sisters perform more music.

That coincided with the McClain girls, now under the name McClain Sisters, signing to Hollywood Records. They only stayed with the company for a few years, but along the way, they contributed multiple songs to Disney projects, including the nature film "Chimpanzee" (2012) and a Disney Channel Christmas album. Following the split with Hollywood Records, the sisters changed their act's name to simply McClain.

In 2017, China was cast in a lead role for the pilot for DC superhero show "Black Lightning" (The CW 2018- ).