Maiara Walsh (/mˈɑːdə/; Brazilian Portuguese: [majˈaɾɐ]; born February 18, 1988[1]) is a Brazilian-American actress. She played Ana Solis on the sixth season of the ABC show Desperate Housewives, Meena Paroom on the Disney Channel sitcom Cory in the House and Simone Sinclair on the Freeform series Switched at Birth. She also portrayed Vicky Patterson in the film Identity Theft of a Cheerleader by Lifetime and Mandi Weatherly in the film Mean Girls 2 on Freeform.

Maiara Walsh
Walsh in 2010
Born (1988-02-18) February 18, 1988 (age 36)
OccupationActress
Years active2005–present

Early life edit

Walsh was born in Washington Seattle,[1] to a Brazilian mother and an American father.[2] Her family moved to São Paulo, Brazil when she was one year old[3] where Portuguese became her first language. Walsh has said she was bullied as a child. After a few years, they moved back to Seattle where Maiara took an interest in music and the arts, diving into every musical and play offered by her school. At 11, she moved to Simi Valley, California to pursue her acting career and graduated from Royal High School.[4][5]

Career edit

In 2010, Walsh guest-starred on CW's The Vampire Diaries as Sarah. In 2011 she co-starred in Mean Girls 2 as Mandi Weatherly, an A-list cliché girl also known as a "Plastic". Walsh was also on the Dr. Phil Show.[citation needed]

Walsh was the female lead in the television series Zombieland as Wichita, taking over the role from Emma Stone.[6] After the pilot episode, the series was not picked up.

Walsh had a recurring part starting in 2012 as Simone Sinclair, a former friend of Bay Kennish, a one-night stand with Emmett Bledsoe, friend / ex-girlfriend of Toby Kennish, and ex-girlfriend of Wilkie, in Switched at Birth.

In 2019, Walsh starred in the Lifetime film Identity Theft of a Cheerleader as Vicky Patterson, a woman in her 30’s who pretends to be a high school student to have a second chance at education and becoming a Cheerleader. Walsh’s character was modeled after the real-life case of Wendy Brown.[7] In 2020, she starred in Lifetime original movie Killer Dream Home alongside John DeLuca.[8]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Lullabye Before I Wake Megan
2010 The Prankster Sage Ryan
2011 Mean Girls 2 Mandi Weatherly
2012 General Education Katie
2012 Last Hours of Suburbia Jennifer
2013 The Starving Games Kantmiss Evershot
2014 The Jazz Funeral Emily
2015 Vanish Emma
2015 Glitch Sophie
2015 Summer Camp Michelle
2018 Her Boyfriend's Secret Carrie
2019 Babysplitters Taylor Small
2021 The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student Katherine Kenner (Kat)

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Unfabulous Girl Cousin Episode: "The Bar Mitzvah"
2007–2008 Cory in the House Meena Paroom Main role
2007 Disney Channel Games Herself Contestant on Blue Team
2009–2010 Desperate Housewives Ana Solis Guest role (season 5); main role (season 6)
2009 Revolution Emily Unsold television pilot
2010 The Secret Life of the American Teenager Girl in Light Blue Pajamas Episode: "Lady Liberty"
2010 The Vampire Diaries Sarah Episodes: "Kill or Be Killed", "Masquerade"
2011 Dr. Phil Herself 1 Episode
2012–2013, 2017 Switched at Birth Simone Sinclair Recurring role (seasons 1–2); guest role (season 5); 18 episodes
2013 Zombieland Wichita Unsold television pilot
2014 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Callie Hannigan Episode: "Seeds"
2015 Elizabeth Stanton's Great Big World Herself Episode: "Equestrian Adventures"
2016 Hopeless, Romantic Summer Television film
2016 Notorious Willow Episodes: "The Burn Book", "Choice"
2018 The Last Ship Mia Valdez Recurring role (season 5), 8 episodes
2018 Criminal Minds Nikki Pareno Episode: "Night Lights"
2019 Identity Theft of a Cheerleader Vicky Patterson Television film
2020 Killer Dream Home Jules Grant Television film
2020 Girls from Ipanema Sarah Episode: "Choices"
2022–2024 Good Trouble Jenna Peréz Recurring role (seasons 4–5), 14 episodes
2022 Reis Abigail, Wife of King David Main role (seasons 4–6); English title: Kings

Music videos edit

Year Title Artist(s)
2008 "7 Things" Miley Cyrus
2013 "Go With It" Tokimonsta featuring MNDR
2015 "The Warrior" Diego Boneta
2016 "Coming Over" Dillon Francis and Kygo featuring James Hersey
2017 "Window" MAGIC GIANT

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Walsh – Biography". MaiaraWalsh.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  2. ^ "Maiara Walsh Caliente & Cool". Vivaatl. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  3. ^ Maiara Walsh on the Zapping Zone. May 2008
  4. ^ Naomi Kirsten. "The Amazing Maiara Walsh". Discovery Girls. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  5. ^ "Horse therapy school is holding bowling fundraiser". Simi Valley Acorn. March 28, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
  6. ^ "'Switched at Birth' Alum Books Female Lead in Amazon's 'Zombieland' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. February 11, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  7. ^ Curry Reyes, Traciy. "'Identity Theft Of A Cheerleader': Lifetime Movie Based On What True Story?—Wendy Brown Cheerleading Mom Scandal". TV News. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  8. ^ "Shows A-Z – killer dream home on lifetime". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

External links edit