YaYa Gosselin

YaYa Gosselin
Born
Felisita Leon Gosselin[1]

(2009-01-26) January 26, 2009 (age 15)[2]
Dallas, Texas, U.S.[1][3]
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active2017–present

Felisita Leon "YaYa" Gosselin (born January 26, 2009[2]) is an American actress. She began her career modelling for commercials and made her acting debut in After Omelas (2017). Following this, she made minor appearances in Peppermint (2018), The Purge (2018), 13 Reasons Why (2019–2020), and FBI (2019–2020). She reprised her role in its spin-off FBI: Most Wanted (2020–2022) as Tali LaCroix in which she was a regular in the second season. Gosselin gained wide recognition for playing the lead role of Missy Moreno in Netflix's We Can Be Heroes (2020).

Early life

Gosselin was born in Dallas on January 26, 2009, to Monica Mendez-Gosselin.[1] Gosselin's birth name, Felisita, was after her great-grandmother Felisita Chavez as was her nickname YaYa.[4] At the age of three, she began acting at Dallas Children's Theatre and also studied acting at DTV Studios. Gosselin studied contemporary and ballet at Ohlook Performing Arts Center. She has two younger sisters.[1][5] They are Latinas.[3]

Career

At the age of five, Gosselin signed with an agency and booked her first job a month later, modeling for commercials such as JCPenney, Famous Footwear, Hasbro, and Conn's HomePlus commercials.[1] In 2017, she appeared in After Omelas.[6] In 2018, she made minor appearances in action thriller film Peppermint and the anthology television series The Purge.[7]

Gosselin played Jenny Finley in Lord Finn for which she won an award for Best Child Actress at the Sunny Side Up Film Festival in 2020.[6] She appeared in a recurring role in FBI before appearing in FBI: Most Wanted in which she recurred in the first season and became a regular in the second.[7] According to Deadline Hollywood, Gosselin will become a guest star.[8] In August 2019, at the age of ten, Gosselin was reported to have joined the cast of Netflix's We Can Be Heroes, the standalone sequel to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.[9] Gosselin stated she enjoyed filming and stunt work, saying it was "challenging for sure, but it is so fun".[5] Netflix released the film on December 25, 2020. Gosselin received praise for her performance. Chicago Sun-Times praised her "winning performance",[10] and RogerEbert.com said the role would "hopefully" be the "breakthrough for a long career".[11] In the first four weeks of its release, the film was watched by 44 million households.[12] In January 2021, Netflix ordered a sequel.[13] In March 2021, Gosselin was cast in feature film Trans Los Angeles in a segment of the film titled Period. She will play a shy 12-year-old girl.[14] In December of that year, Gosselin was announced as a lead actress in Apple TV+ series Surfside Girls alongside Miya Cech. The former stars as Sam, who, with her best friend Jade (Cech), meets a ghost and hopes to break a curse.[8]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2017 After Omelas Lauren Short film[6]
2018 Peppermint Ana [7]
The Purge Young Penelope Episode: "The Urge to Purge"[7]
Laugh Till It Hurts Tiara Short film
Law and Order: Sting Unit Officer Olivia Short film[6]
Day 13 Gabby Rae Short film[6]
2019 Lord Finn Jenny Finley [6]
2019–2020 FBI Natalia "Tali" Skye LaCroix 2 episodes; Guest (season 1–2)
13 Reasons Why Graciella Padilla 2 episodes; Guest (season 3–4)[7][15]
2020–2022 FBI: Most Wanted Natalia "Tali" Skye LaCroix Recurring role (season 1); Main role (season 2–3)[7]
2020 We Can Be Heroes Missy Moreno Streaming film[16]
2021 Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets Young Jorie [7]
2022 Surfside Girls Sam Main role

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Celebrity Facts and Awards". TV Guide. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  2. ^ a b @yayagosselin (January 26, 2020). "Thank you so much to all of our friends for coming to celebrate YaYa's 11th Birthday! We had so much fun with you all :) Wishing a very happy birthday to our girl who we love so much. You are all good things YaYa. Love, Mama 🖤 #grateful #thankyouforcoming #happybirthdayyaya Missing: @carson_minniear and @liliana___torres 😘". Retrieved January 17, 2021 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ a b Burns, Brooks (December 31, 2020). "Young Dallas actress stars in "We Can Be Heroes"". WFAA. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  4. ^ @yayagosselin (February 11, 2021). "This is Felisita Chavez. She is my great Grandma and I am named after her. My given name AND my nickname come from her. She was called YaYa as a kid too and even still her closest friends and her siblings call her YaYa. I hadn't seen her in two years before today. I love her with all my heart. She is so strong and a little sassy too! I present to you Big YaYa and Little YaYa 🖤". Retrieved February 13, 2021 – via Instagram.
  5. ^ a b Gosselin, YaYa (December 23, 2020). "We Can Be Heroes: YaYa Gosselin Talks Leadership and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman". CBR (Interview). Interviewed by Tim Adams. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Gomes, Anoush (November 16, 2020). "'FBI Most Wanted' Season 2: Meet Julian McMahon, Terry O'Quinn and the rest of the cast of the CBS crime drama". MEAWW. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Petski, Denise (October 28, 2020). "'FBI: Most Wanted': YaYa Gosselin Upped To Series Regular For Season 2 Of CBS Drama Series". Deadline. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (December 10, 2021). "'Surfside Girls': Apple TV+ Orders Family Series Starring Miya Cech & YaYa Gosselin Based On Graphic Novel". Deadline. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 21, 2019). "Christian Slater, YaYa Gosselin, Akira Akbar, Pedro Pascal And More Join Robert Rodriguez's 'We Can Be Heroes' At Netflix". Deadline. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  10. ^ Roeper, Richard (December 25, 2020). "'We Can Be Heroes' lets the plucky children lead the way". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  11. ^ Aguilar, Carlos (December 25, 2020). "We Can Be Heroes movie review (2020)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  12. ^ White, Peter (January 4, 2021). "'Bridgerton' & 'We Can Be Heroes' Join 'The Midnight Sky' As Top Netflix Festive Titles, Streamer Lines Up Sequel To Robert Rodriguez Kids Film". Deadline. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  13. ^ Sandwell, Ian (January 5, 2021). "Robert Rodriguez talks We Can Be Heroes 2 plans". Digital Spy. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  14. ^ Grobar, Matt (March 24, 2021). "Carmen Carrera, Stephanie Beatriz & YaYa Gosselin Board Kase Peña's Debut Feature, 'Trans Los Angeles'". Deadline. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  15. ^ Cremona, Patrick (December 22, 2020). "Robert Rodriguez wanted to include the Spy Kids in We Can Be Heroes". Radio Times. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  16. ^ Robey, Tim (December 31, 2020). "We Can Be Heroes, review: Robert Rodriguez piles on the green-screen for a witless childcare aid". The Telegraph. Retrieved January 18, 2021.