AJ Michalka Bio
Amanda Joy Michalka, known professionally as AJ Michalka, is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. She is best known as one half of the pop duo Aly & AJ, which she performs alongside her older sister, actress and musician Aly Michalka. Across more than two decades in entertainment, she has built a varied career that spans feature films, network television, animated series, and recorded music.
Her screen credits include the films The Lovely Bones (2009), Secretariat (2010), Super 8 (2011), Grace Unplugged (2013), Weepah Way for Now (2015), and Support the Girls (2018). On television, she played Lainey Lewis on the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs from 2013 to 2023 and on its spinoff Schooled from 2019 to 2020, and she voiced the lead character Catra in the Netflix animated series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power from 2018 to 2020.
Early Life and Background
Amanda Joy Michalka was born in Torrance, California, and is the younger sister of actress and musician Aly Michalka. Her father, Mark, owns a contracting company, and her mother, Carrie, is a musician who performed with the Christian rock band JC Band. Her parents are divorced, and as a young child she briefly lived in Seattle and Milwaukee.
She began acting at the age of five, mostly in church play productions, and started playing the piano at six before taking up the guitar in her early years. She has since become a multi-instrumentalist, playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and piano. She was raised as a Christian and was homeschooled for part of her childhood, attending Mack Elementary with her sister. While living in Milwaukee, she took part in a number of musical productions at her school.
Path to Acting
Michalka started work in entertainment in the early 2000s, beginning as a model for catalogs while still a teenager. In 2006, she made her Disney Channel debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles, playing Courtney Callum alongside her sister Aly as Taylor Callum. The early role marked her first major on-screen appearance and introduced her to a wider young audience.
She went on to land guest spots on shows such as Oliver Beene, Six Feet Under, The Guardian, and General Hospital, and she and her sister appeared in the MTV film Super Sweet 16: The Movie. She was then cast as a recurring character on the CW series Hellcats, starring Ashley Tisdale and her sister Aly Michalka. The series ran for one season before being cancelled in May 2011, but it gave her steady on-camera experience and helped prepare her for larger roles.
AJ Michalka Career
Early Career (2002–2008)
AJ Michalka began her professional career in 2002, working as a catalog model while continuing to develop her music with her sister. In 2006, she made her Disney Channel debut in Cow Belles and began taking on small television roles, including guest appearances on shows such as Six Feet Under and The Guardian. She also co-starred with her sister in the MTV film Super Sweet 16: The Movie, building a name as a young performer willing to balance acting and music.
During this same period, she and Aly performed together as the musical duo 78violet, releasing work and touring as they grew up in the public eye. The early years gave Michalka a foundation in both acting and songwriting, setting the stage for her later transition to higher-profile film and television work.
Breakthrough (2009–2015)
Michalka’s film career advanced quickly when she was cast in the Peter Jackson film The Lovely Bones, which was released widely in January 2010. She followed that with a role in the Disney film Secretariat in 2010, and in 2011 she appeared in J. J. Abrams’s science fiction film Super 8. She also took on her first big-screen starring role as the title character in the 2013 film Grace Unplugged, a part that allowed her to combine her acting with her music.
On television, she joined the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs in 2013 in a recurring role as Lainey Lewis, the best friend of main character Erica Goldberg. In May 2015, it was announced that she had been promoted to series regular for the show’s third season. She also voiced the character Stevonnie, a fusion of Steven and Connie, in the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe beginning in 2015, and she co-produced and starred in the 2015 film Weepah Way for Now, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Notable Works and Milestones
Her signature works include her long run as Lainey Lewis on The Goldbergs from 2013 to 2023, her voice role as Catra in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power from 2018 to 2020, and her early starring film role in Grace Unplugged in 2013. The Goldbergs and its spinoff Schooled, in which she led the cast from 2019 to 2020, became her most recognized television contributions. Her appearances in The Lovely Bones and Super 8 placed her in two of the most talked-about films of 2009 and 2011.
AJ Michalka Award Nominations
Publicly verified award nominations for AJ Michalka are limited, and a complete list of nominations across her film, television, and music career could not be confirmed from the available sources. As a result, specific nomination totals, categories, and years are not summarized here. Readers seeking a full accounting of her nominations should consult industry databases and primary award bodies.
AJ Michalka Awards Won
Publicly verified award wins for AJ Michalka could not be confirmed from the available sources, and a list of specific trophies, categories, and years is not presented here. Any reported wins should be checked against primary industry sources before being attributed to her. As additional verified information becomes available, a complete summary of her award wins can be added.
AJ Michalka Family
AJ Michalka is the younger sister of actress and musician Aly Michalka, with whom she performs in the pop duo Aly & AJ. Her father, Mark Michalka, owns a contracting company, and her mother, Carrie Michalka, is a musician who performed with the Christian rock band JC Band. Her parents are divorced, and she has spoken about spending part of her childhood moving between California, Seattle, and Milwaukee.
Personal Life
In 2006, Michalka dated actor and musician Joe Jonas, and she has confirmed that the Aly & AJ song Flattery was written about him. Since August 2017, she has been in a relationship with actor Josh Pence. Outside of her public relationships, she is known for keeping much of her personal life private while continuing to balance her work in acting, music, and songwriting.