Kiernan Shipka - Biography

 

Kiernan Shipka

Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress best known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2007-2015) and Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020) and the sixth season of the CW series Riverdale (2021-2022), B.D. Hyman in the FX series Feud: Bette and Joan (2017), and Jinora in The Legend of Korra (2012-2014).

Shipka has also starred in several films, including Carriers (2009), Flowers in the Attic (2014), The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), and The Silence (2019).

Kiernan Brennan Shipka was born in Chicago, Illinois, to John Young Shipka, a real estate developer, and Erin Ann Brennan. Shipka began taking ballroom dancing lessons at the age of five, and was still attending classes as of March 2012. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California when she was six years old to help with her acting career.

Shipka made her television debut at five months old in the hospital drama ER. She also started designing commercial print models as a child. After taking on several small television roles, her first major role was as Sally Draper, daughter of main character Don Draper, in the 2007-2015 TV series Mad Men. She won the role after two trials. She was a recurring guest star in the first three seasons of the show, then became a series regular in the fourth season.

As part of Mad Men, she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Dramatic Series in 2008 and 2009. Shipka received praise for her performance in Mad Men. In 2010, American-Statesman critic of Austin Del Roe named her as his dream nominee for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, writing, "This 10-year-old actress was so poignant as turbulent Sally Draper was last season that It seems odd that it's just been promoted to a regular series.If Shipka's upcoming Mad Men work - who struggles with her parents' fractured marriage and ushering in a prehistoric era in the turbulent 1960s - remains as amazing as it was in Season 3, this is a ballot I hope it comes true. That next year."

In 2014, Shipka was named one of the "25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" by Time magazine. That same year, IndieWire included her in their list of "20 Actors to Watch Under 20". Shipka starred in the 2014 Lifetime film Flowers in the Attic, and co-starred (with Emma Roberts) in Oz Perkins' 2015 horror film The Blackcoat's Daughter.

2016–present: More work and streaming projects

In 2017, B.D. photographed. Hyman, daughter of Bette Davis, in the FX television series Feud: Bette and Joan. In January 2018, it was announced that Shipka would star as Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina based on the sitcom of the same name. The first part was released by Netflix on October 26, 2018, and an episode in December. The show continued for three more parts, and concluded on December 31, 2020 with a total of 36 episodes. Shipka reprized the role in the Season 6 episode of Riverdale, "Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Witch's Hour(s)", which aired December 7, 2021.

Shipka co-starred in a 2019 Christmas romantic comedy directed by Luke Snellin, Let It Snow, based on the novel of the same name. Shooting began in February 2019.

Shipka next played a deaf teenager opposite Stanley Tucci in John R. Leonetti's horror film Silence, based on the 2015 horror novel of the same name by writer Tim LeBonne. Netflix released The Silence on April 10, 2019. Shipka learned American Sign Language for the role. Leonetti praised her performance, saying, "She acts alongside Stanley Tucci, and believe me, she's more than just stuck with her performance. It was great to watch."