BIOGRAPHY

Early Life
Katherine Grace McNamara was born on November 22, 1995 in Kansas City, Missouri to her parents Ursula and Evan McNamara, who were both in the U.S. military. She graduated high school at fourteen years old, being part-homeschooled, and graduated summa cum laude at Drexel University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in business administration when she was seventeen. Katherine began attending John’s Hopkins University in 2017, pursuing a master’s degree in literature. She can play the guitar, sing, and dance; Katherine is an award-winning dancer and can perform ballet, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, jazz, waltz, and hula.

Start Of Her Career
She began her career while still in Kansas City, beginning with being a part of the short film The Bride & the Groom in 2007 as a wedding guest. In 2008, Katherine had an uncredited role as a fair goer in the film All Roads Lead Home, before playing the title role as Mary Carver in Matchmaker Mary. The next year, she played Emma Marsh in the family film Sam Steele and the Junior Detective Agency, starring Luke Perry. In 2010, she played Mary in the short film Get Off My Porch and Penny in The Nuclear Standard before appearing in the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury.

LA Life
Katherine moved to Los Angeles in 2011 and jumped straight into television with an appearance in an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Jasmine in its twelfth season, and had an uncredited appearance as Meagan on “30 Rock”. Her first film role in LA came as a wedding guest in Last Will, a film about a woman being framed for her husband’s murder. She would appear on the television show “Drop Dead Diva” as Ann Logan in 2011 as well. She reprised her role as Emma Marsh in Sam Steele and the Crystal Chalice before appearing in the Garry Marshall film New Year’s Eve as Lily Bowman. The next year, Katherine appeared on “Glee” as Bunhead #1, and played Iris in an episode of “Sketchy”. She also began working for Disney, starring with Olivia Holt in Girl Vs. Monster as as Myra Santelli, and Cherri O’Keefe in Madison High, which was originally supposed to be an introduction into a television show by the same name. Katherine also appeared in a few episodes of the Disney XD show “Kickin’ It” as Claire.

Tv Guest Roles & Happyland
In 2013, she played Bryn Breitbart in a couple episodes of the Disney Channel’s “Jessie”. Katherine next appeared in an episode of “Torch” as Evie Woods, before her next film role as Sarah O’Malley in Contest, about a bullied high schooler who befriends his bully. Later that year, she appeared in an episode of “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour” as Jordanna and Tara Campbell in an episode of “The Thundermans”. She last played Lily Sherman in the television movie The Surgeon General, also starring Jason Isaacs. Katherine began 2014 playing Young Carrie Wells in an episode of “Unforgettable”, followed by Haley on “Workaholics”, and Angela Ward/Tangerine on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Katherine was a part of the core cast on the MTV series “Happyland” as Harper Munroe, but the series ended after only eight episodes. Next came playing Becky Thatcher in Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, along side Joel Courtney and Jake T. Austin. Katherine next would lend her voice to the television series short “Transformers: Rescue Bots”, voicing the role of Priscilla Pynch. She ended the year playing Jackie in the Jennifer Beals-led television movie A Wife’s Nightmare, a film about a women returning home after a mental breakdown and finding a new woman in her house, claiming to be her husband’s daughter.

Movies & Shadowhunters
Katherine portrayed the role of Rosa Conti in the drama A Sort of Homecoming, a film about a New York news producer returning home to Louisiana; followed by a three-episode stint on the ABC Family/Freeform series “The Fosters”, playing Kat. She joined the Maze Runner series, playing Sonya in 2015’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, where the film grossed over $312 million worldwide at the box office. The same year, she would play Lilith in the television movie R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls, where she also sang the song “Stay True” featured in the end credits. Katherine would star alongside Adam Hicks in the family adventure film Little Savages in 2016, followed by Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? playing Sandy Keely. She had an uncredited appearance on the show “The Grinder” as Ginger. Katherine landed the leading role in the television adaptation of “The Mortal Instruments” book series, “Shadowhunters” as Clary Fray, alongside Dominic Sherwood and Matthew Daddario. She provided a song for the second season titled “Ember.” Katherine won a People’s Choice Award for Female TV Star, as well as a Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actress for her role on the show. Indescretion would become her next film, playing Lizzy Simon opposite Mira Sorvino and Cary Elwes; followed by the film Natural Selection, starring Mason Dye and Anthony Michael Hall.

Arrow & Life After
Katherine played Mary in the horror film Charlotte, about a teenager babysitting for a new family where she meets a creepy doll that makes her watch horrifying tales on TV. 2018 began with Katherine’s reprisal as Sonya in Maze Runner: The Death Cure and an appearance as Sara on the television show “Happy Together”. She joined the Arrowverse in 2018, playing an adult version of Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen’s daughter Mia Smoak on “Arrow”, in which she also appeared on “Supergirl”, “Batwoman”, and “The Flash” during the show’s final two seasons. In 2019, Katherine portrayed Hannah in the sci-fi mystery Assimilate, starring Joel Courtney and Cam Gigandet. She was the singing voice of the character Sally Jessup for Dreamworks’ “Spirit Riding Free: Spirit of Christmas”, also providing vocals for songs featured in the special. At the beginning of 2020, she appeared on the television show “Acting for a Cause” as Lydia Bennet, as well as Zoe on “Day by Day”. Katherine announced at the end of March that she would be releasing a song titled “Just Like James,” which was available to stream on April 8th; proceeds from the song go straight to the World Health Organization for COVID-19 relief. On May 8th, she participated in a live reading of Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice” to help raise funds for Acting for a Cause. Katherine joined an all-star cast for the television show “The Stand”, also starring James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg, and Alexander Skarsgard, which is still set to premiere later in the year.

Working On Next
Katherine’s upcoming films include The Adventures of Bunny Bravo, an animation film about a bunny named Bravo living on Easter Island, where she voices the role of Cat. She also has four films currently in post-production: Finding You, as Taylor Risdale; Untitled Horror Movie as Chrissy; Push as Amy; and El Tonto, playing Terry.

Kat works with
Katherine participates in anti-bullying efforts, including Stomp Out Bullying, as she was bullied as a child. She’s also an ambassador for Girl Up, the United Nation’s empowerment organization for girls, a member of the Lolipop Theater Network, an avid supporter of the MS Society, is a lifetime Girl Scout, and is a volunteer for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Katherine also supports St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Big Slick benefiting Kansas City Children’s Hospital, and Michelle Obama’s Global Girls’ Alliance, an organization that helps young women around the world achieved their potential.