Biography
Actress Jenna Boyd played resilient young girls and teenagers in several well-received features and television series, including "The Missing" (2003), "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (2005) and the comedy series "Atypical" (Netflix, 2017- ). Born Jenna Michelle Boyd on March 4, 1993 in Bedford, Texas, she was in front of cameras from an early age, appearing in print ads and television commercials as well as a background player on "Barney & Friends" (PBS, 1992-2009). Her family eventually moved west to Los Angeles with the intent of supporting an acting career for Boyd and her younger brother, Cayden, who would appear on "Awkward" (MTV, 2011-2016), among several other television series. Jenna Boyd would soon find regular work in bit and guest roles on episodic television, including "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-2005), before working her way up to supporting turns in projects like the holiday TV-movie "Mary Christmas" (Pax TV, 2002), playing a girl who writes to Santa Claus for a new mother. In 2003, Boyd made her feature film debut as Benicio Del Toro's daughter in William Friedkin's thriller "The Hunted," which was followed by a turn as the daughter of a family that "adopts" David Spade's washed-up actor in "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" (2003). However, her breakout film was the Ron Howard western "The Missing," which cast her as the youngest daughter of a 19th century mother (Cate Blanchett) tracking a Native American cult leader (Eric Schweig) with the help of her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones). Boyd won a Young Artist Award for her performance in the film, and earned a nomination - her fourth - as well as a Teen Choice Award nomination for her role as a leukemia patient befriended by Amber Tamblyn in the popular youth drama "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Her subsequent work was steady: guest roles on episodic television (a girl in a foster home on "The Ghost Whisperer," CBS, 2005-2010) and made-for-TV fare, as well as a slew of independent movies like the Christian drama "Last Ounce of Courage" (2012). In 2017, she was cast in a recurring role on the Netflix comedy series "Atypical," playing the overachieving girlfriend of an autistic teen (Keir Gilchrist).
