Where Are The American Girl Doll Actresses Now? (2026 Update)

A certain American Girl actress just announced some big news today.. so to celebrate, I figured I'd update my post from 2024 about where the American Girl actresses are now in 2026!

• After AnnaSophia Robb starred as Samantha in Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, she starred in many movies like Because of Winn-Dixie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Bridge to Terabithia. She graduated from NYU in 2018 and got married in 2022, and her latest movie, a Sylvester Stallone biopic entitled I Play Rocky, is releasing in the fall.

• Kelsey Lewis, who played Nellie, tragically passed away in a skiing accident in October 2024. She was in a few more TV shows in guest roles until 2008, when she took a hiatus from acting. She acted in a short film in 2017, which was her last film role, and her last involvement in a film was the choreography of a short film in 2021. May Kelsey rest in peace, and I hope her memory lives on through these posts.

• Shailene Woodley was the queen of book-to-film adaptations in 2014, nine years after she starred as Felicity. She starred in The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent trilogy. She was also set to play the role of Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 before her scenes were cut. Now, she is starring in more independent movies, is an environmental activist, and made her Broadway debut in the play Cult of Love in November 2024.

• After she portrayed Elizabeth, Katie Henney appeared on TV shows like The Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon and Law and Order. Her last acting role for a bit was in 2015, although she did play one more role in the indie horror movie Before Someone Gets Hurt in 2018. Katie also went to musical theater college in New York.

• Maya Ritter, who portrayed Molly, hasn't acted since 2016, when she guest-starred on the Disney Junior show Goldie and Bear. She is now a talent agent for her own talent agency, Ritter Talent Agency.

• Tory Green had two more acting roles in small projects in 2007 and 2008. It can be assumed that Tory is now living a normal life, as I can't find any information about Tory post-2008.

• After Abigail Breslin played the role of Kit, she took on other roles in movies like Zombieland and its sequel, Rango and Ender's Game. She also played the role of Helen Keller in the play The Miracle Worker. She is still acting to this day, and her most recent role was in the 2025 film Italians.

• Out of all of the historical Best Friend dolls, Ruthie's actress Madison Davenport is the only one still acting. She appeared in the 2014 film Noah, TV shows like Criminal Minds and Black Mirror and even voice acted in the Kingdom Hearts video game. In 2022, she came out as bisexual.

• Sammi Hanratty, who played Chrissa, now goes by Samantha Hanratty and acts in TV shows, most notably the Showtime 2021 series Yellowjackets. She came out as bisexual and got married, and had a son on one of the last days of 2024.

• Kaitlyn Dever, who played Gwen, had a major career breakthrough in 2019 when she played a leading role in the R-rated comedy Booksmart and the Netflix series Unbelievable. Since then, she was in the film adaptation of the play Dear Evan Hansen, the Hulu movies Rosaline and No One Will Save You, and the TV adaptation of the video game The Last of Us. She has since been cast in the next Godzilla X Kong movie, set to release in 2027, and started dating a boyfriend.

• Ariela Barer, who played Sonali, is now mostly known for writing, producing and starring in an independent film called How To Blow Up A Pipeline. They have also played a leading role in a Marvel Hulu series Runaways, and have since reunited with Chrissa Stands Strong castmate Kaitlyn Dever on The Last Of Us. Ariela came out as queer in 2019 and uses she/they pronouns.

• Since Jade Pettyjohn played McKenna, she was cast in a variety of TV shows, including Nickelodeon's School of Rock and Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere. Her most recent role was on Grey's Anatomy.

• Sidney Fullmer, who played Saige, played one more role in Disney's film adaptation of Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Really Bad Day before finishing public school, dating a boy, and returning to a normal life. Sidney is now a Associate at private equity firm The Cynosure Group.

• Since playing Isabelle, Erin Pitt has started her own photography and short film production company, MovingPix Productions, and recently got married.

• You probably know what Olivia Rodrigo, who played Grace, is doing now. After acting in various Disney productions, she released her first single Driver's License at the beginning of last year, which rose to the top of the charts. Her first album Sour was released in May 2021, and her second album Guts released in September 2023. She is the first former American Girl actress to win a Grammy... three Grammys, to be exact. And today, Olivia announced her third album, "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love", set to release on June 12. Congratulations, Olivia!

• Jolie Ledford, who played Julie in "And The Tiara Goes To...", was active in the independent film scene until 2020. Her social media accounts went dark since then, so I can only assume she is now living a normal life.

• Harlie Galloway, who played Maryellen in "Maryellen and the Brightest Star", is now acting in plays. She was in her high school's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in November 2021. She is currently attending Belmont University just like me... hmm.. do you guys think I can get in contact with her for an interview?

• Maggie Elizabeth Jones, who played Lea, is now a normal girl who has a boyfriend and runs track. She graduated from Auburn University last year, and is now working for the Savannah Bananas baseball team.

• Marsai Martin, who played Melody in her Amazon special, is still acting in projects such as the series Black-ish, which ended in 2022, and a voice role in the Paw Patrol movie franchise, but what's more impressive about her career post-American Girl is that when she was still in middle school, she started her own production company Genius Productions. Her company's first movie Little was released in 2019, and she produced a short-lived Disney Channel series called Saturdays and another movie called Fantasy Football. She also starred opposite Viola Davis in the Amazon movie G20, where she played the President's daughter.

• Alyvia Alyn Lynd, who played Maryellen in her Amazon special, has been acting in TV shows like the 2019 Netflix show Daybreak since her AG role. Her most recent role was in a show called Wayward. She was nominated for 3 Emmys for her role in The Young and the Restless.

• Nina Lu, who played Ivy in her Amazon special, is a graduate from the USC film school for screenwriting, and now is a content creator on TikTok.

• Hannah Nordberg, who played Julie in Ivy's Amazon special, has been doing roles in both live-action and voice acting in cartoons like Fancy Nancy and The Loud House. However, she hasn't had a role since Fancy Nancy ended in 2022. (Fun fact - I met Hannah's Fancy Nancy costar, Mia Sinclair Jenness, at a comic con last year for her role in Arcane. She signed my Jinx doll!)

• Zoe Manarel, who played Z in her Amazon special, acted in several independent short films throughout the pandemic, but hasn't been active since 2022.

• Miya Cech, who played Corinne in her movie, now solely goes by her first name, Miyako. In 2024, she announced that she was been cast to play Toph Beifong in seasons 2 and of the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix, and season 2 releases on June 25. Since the Corinne movie, she also filmed a Netflix movie called You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah and an independent film called A Great Divide, which released in 2023.

• Kai Cech, who played Gwynn, starred in an independent horror movie called Marshmallow last year, which has had a sequel greenlit. She also has had several independent movies released recently, and she starred in Dear Santa alongside Jack Black, which was released in November 2024.

I hope you guys enjoyed these updates!