Anna Cathcart (born June 16, 2003) is a Canadian actress who gained widespread recognition for playing Kitty Song-Covey in
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
's
''To All the Boys'' film series (2018–2021) and in the character’s own spin-off show ''
XO, Kitty
''XO, Kitty'' is an American romantic comedy drama television series created by Jenny Han for Netflix that premiered on May 18, 2023. It is a spin-off of the ''To All the Boys'' film series (itself an adaptation of Han's book trilogy '' To Al ...
'' (2023−present). She began her career as a child actress, starring as Agent Olympia in the
PBS Kids
PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...
/
TVOKids
TVOKids (stylized as tvokids) is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by TVO (formerly TVOntario) in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three ter ...
series ''
Odd Squad
''Odd Squad'' (stylized as ''ODD SQUAD'') is a children's live action educational comedy television series created by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman. The series premiered on TVOKids in Canada and PBS Kids in the United States on November 26, 2014 ...
'' (2016–2019) for which she won a
Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
. Cathcart then played Dizzy Tremaine in the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
films ''
Descendants 2
''Descendants 2'' is an American musical fantasy television film. It premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movie on July 21, 2017, and was simulcast on Disney-owned networks ABC, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies. It is the ...
'' (2017) and ''
Descendants 3
''Descendants 3'' is an American musical fantasy television film, being the third installment in the ''Descendants'' series, following '' Descendants'' and '' Descendants 2'', and the last one in the film trilogy focused on Mal ( Dove Cameron) ...
'' (2019) and played the titular role in the
Brat web series ''
Zoe Valentine'' (2019).
Early life and education
Anna Cathcart was born on June 16, 2003 in
Richmond, BC
Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...
.
She is of Chinese and Irish descent, and has an older sister.
She graduated high school in 2021, and has described her school experience as "like having two
full-time job
A full-time job is employment in which workers work a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer.
Overview
Fulltime employment often comes with benefits that are not typically offered to part-time, temporary, or flexible worke ...
s at once".
On the set of ''Odd Squad'', she and her castmates were tutored in two-hour blocks.
Cathcart attends the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
majoring in sociology and creative writing.
Career
2016–2017: Career beginnings
Cathcart, at the age of six or seven, gained a
talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...
and appeared in a few commercials.
At the age of eight, she appeared in a
Crayola
Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in list of art media, art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered ...
and
Campbell's Soup
The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campb ...
commercial.
She stated that she has "never really been to acting classes", saying that she is inspired by performances on
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
and
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
.
At the age of 12, following a hiatus,
Cathcart was scouted and asked to audition for the
TVOKids
TVOKids (stylized as tvokids) is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by TVO (formerly TVOntario) in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three ter ...
and
PBS Kids
PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...
series, ''
Odd Squad
''Odd Squad'' (stylized as ''ODD SQUAD'') is a children's live action educational comedy television series created by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman. The series premiered on TVOKids in Canada and PBS Kids in the United States on November 26, 2014 ...
''.
She and fellow actor
Isaac Kragten were cast as Agents Olympia and Otis respectively.
They filmed the series for seven months in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
The first episode of season 2 "
First Day" aired on 20 June 2016 on PBS Kids and 21 June 2016 on TVOKids. That same year, Cathcart reprised her role for the film
spin-off
Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media
*Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine
* ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
''
Odd Squad: The Movie'', marking her first theatrical appearance. Cathcart won a Joey Award for her work as well as being co-nominated for another Joey Award along with her castmates. In November 2016, PBS ordered 20 one to three minute episodes of an ''Odd Squad'' spin-off titled ''
OddTube''. In the series, Cathcart reprised her role as Agent Olympia, the character who hosted the show.
In 2017, Cathcart appeared in the sequel to the
Disney Channel Original Movie
Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...
''
Descendants'', ''
Descendants 2
''Descendants 2'' is an American musical fantasy television film. It premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movie on July 21, 2017, and was simulcast on Disney-owned networks ABC, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies. It is the ...
'', in which she portrayed
Dizzy Tremaine, daughter of
Drizella Tremaine
Disney's ''Cinderella'' is an animated feature film based on the fairy tale of the same name, released in 1950, which received two direct-to-video sequels: '' Cinderella II: Dreams Come True'' (2002) and '' Cinderella III: A Twist in Time'' (20 ...
.
The film premiered on 21 July 2017 and was viewed by 8.92 million viewers across six networks on the night of its premiere.
2018–present: ''To All the Boys'' franchise and ''XO, Kitty''
Cathcart joined the cast of the
film adaption of
Jenny Han
Jenny Han (born September 3, 1980) is an American author, screenwriter, executive producer, and showrunner. She is best known for writing '' The Summer I Turned Pretty'' trilogy, which she adapted into a TV series for Prime Video. She also wrot ...
's bestselling book ''
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
''To All the Boys I've Loved Before'' is a 2014 young adult romance novel by American author Jenny Han, first published by Simon & Schuster and released on April 15, 2014. Han was inspired to write the book based on her own habit of writing lo ...
'', in which she was to portray 11-year-old Kitty Song-Covey, the younger sister of protagonist Lara Jean.
The film was released in 2018 on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and quickly became one of the most viewed
Netflix original films
__NOTOC__
The following are lists of Netflix original films by year:
* List of Netflix original films (2015–2017)
* List of Netflix original films (2018)
* List of Netflix original films (2019)
* List of Netflix original films (2020)
* List o ...
. The film received generally favourable reviews and critics praised the actors. Molly Freeman of ''
Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers.
...
'' called Cathcart a "hilarious standout" while Charlie Salek of ''Joker Mag'' called the supporting performances "crucial".
In November 2018, Cathcart was cast in the
Brat web-based series ''
Zoe Valentine'' in which she was to portray the
eponym
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
ous character.
Cathcart had not auditioned but instead was contacted about the role. The first episode, which premiered on January 17, 2019, received 4.9 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
as of November 2020. Cathcart described filming as being "crazy", saying "
t wassuch a blur but so much fun".
Cathcart starred as Zoe Valentine again in Brat film ''Spring Breakaway'' which was released on March 15, 2019, on YouTube. ''Zoe Valentine'' was later renewed for a second season.
Cathcart reprised her role as Dizzy Tremaine in the third instalment of the
''Descendants'' franchise, ''
Descendants 3
''Descendants 3'' is an American musical fantasy television film, being the third installment in the ''Descendants'' series, following '' Descendants'' and '' Descendants 2'', and the last one in the film trilogy focused on Mal ( Dove Cameron) ...
'' in 2019.
Cathcart reprised her role as Kitty in 2020 in ''
To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You''
which had been filmed from March to May 2019, the film being primarily filmed in
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. Released in February 2020, the film received generally mixed reviews. Cathcart received praise for her performance, with ''
The Post'' writing that Cathcart was one of the only members of the returning cast to bring the "same type of energy as
hedid in the first film." She was nominated for the Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award.. In mid-2020, because of the restrictions placed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Cathcart hosted a virtual series called ''Letters To'' which allowed fans to connect with their favourite authors. Developed by
Picturestart
Erik Feig is an American film producer. He is the CEO of the independent production company Picturestart, which he founded in 2019, and previously oversaw the film production and sales departments of Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate, and Sony Pict ...
and released on
Facebook Watch
Facebook Watch (currently rebranding to Facebook Video) is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and it was available to all U.S. ...
, ''Glitter Magazine'' wrote that the series had "all literary fans buzzing".
Cathcart reprised her role in the third film of the ''To All the Boys I've Loved Before'' film series titled ''
To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean'', which was mostly filmed in Vancouver,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
and
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
from July to September 2019.
Cathcart played Molly in the 2021 Disney Channel Original Movie ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles
* Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
''.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
for ''Spin'' began in early October 2020 and wrapped in late November. Cathcart's performance was commended by Amy Amatangelo of ''
Paste
Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to:
Science and technology
* Adhesive or paste
** Wallpaper paste
** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water
* Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...
'', who called her the "generation's secret weapon" and stated that projects including her were certain to be of high quality.
She also voiced Dizzy in animated special ''
Descendants: The Royal Wedding'',
which aired after ''Spin''.
In March 2021, it was announced Cathcart would reprise her role as Kitty Song-Covey in a ''To All the Boys'' spin-off series, later revealed to be titled ''
XO, Kitty
''XO, Kitty'' is an American romantic comedy drama television series created by Jenny Han for Netflix that premiered on May 18, 2023. It is a spin-off of the ''To All the Boys'' film series (itself an adaptation of Han's book trilogy '' To Al ...
''.
''
TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...
'' described her as "appropriately sweet", while ''
Comic Book Resources
''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...
'' stated she "makes a confident jump to a leading role".
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathcart, Anna
2003 births
Living people
21st-century Canadian actresses
Actresses from Vancouver
Canadian actresses of Chinese descent
Canadian child actresses
Canadian film actresses
Canadian Screen Award winning actors
Canadian television actresses
Canadian voice actresses
Canadian web series actresses
Canadian people of Irish descent