Willa Holland
Holland at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Willa Joanna Chance Holland June 18, 1991 (1991-06-18) (age 19) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Model
Years active	2006 – present

Willa Joanna Chance Holland^[1] (born June 18, 1991) is an American model and actress. She is best known for playing Kaitlin Cooper, Marissa Cooper's devious younger sister, on the television series The O.C. She appeared as Agnes Andrews on the show Gossip Girl.

[edit] Early life

Holland was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of cinematographer Keith Holland and actress Darnell Gregorio-De Palma. She has two sisters, Brianna Holland (born 1988) and Piper De Palma (born 1996). She is of part Italian descent on her mother's side. Holland spent the earlier part of her childhood in Chelsea, London. It was during that period that she spent time on the set of the film Mission: Impossible which was directed by her stepfather Brian De Palma.

She went to Kenter Canyon Elementary School and later Paul Revere Middle School. She also attended Palisades Charter High School for a brief time.

[edit] Career

Holland spent the summer of 1999 in The Hamptons with her family. After a day playing at Steven Spielberg's home, the seed was planted that she should spend her life acting in film. Spielberg told her mother "You've got to put her in front of a camera!".^[2][3][4]

Upon her return to Los Angeles that September, Holland signed with Ford Modeling Agency at age seven, and immediately booked a shoot for Burberry.^[5]

The following year, 1999, De Palma took Willa to a theatrical talent agency. Since then she has shot many national commercials. During 2001 when Willa was ten, she worked alongside her cinematographer father in Ordinary Madness. She was even slated to co-star in the 2005 FOX series The Inside with fellow model Rachel Nichols, but left the show when writer Tim Minear was brought in to overhaul it. She played the role of Kaitlin Cooper on The O.C. for its third and fourth seasons. Incidentally, Willa Holland was a fan of The O.C. before landing the role of Kaitlin Cooper, Marissa Cooper's (Mischa Barton) rebellious "little" sister.^[2][6][7] She was a regular on the show's fourth season. Willa attends private acting classes with one of Los Angeles most esteemed acting coaches.^{[citation needed]}

Holland appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue and Fashion 18 and has been featured in CosmoGirl!, as well as representing LeSportsac Fall and Winter 2006 The O.C. handbags for Macy's. She topped the High Critic's Top 20 lists for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Willa played April, a confused teenager, in the film Garden Party, which opened July 11, 2008 in Los Angeles, New York, Portland, and Seattle.^[8] In Garden Party she plays a girl struggling to survive with her family because they neglect her.

On September 5, 2008 it was announced that Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz was giving her a stint in Season 2 of Gossip Girl in which Holland played Agnes, a 16-year-old model working for Eleanor Waldorf. Agnes created havoc with Taylor Momsen's character Jenny Humphrey. Willa confirmed on her Twitter account that she'll appear in the third season of Gossip Girl.^[9]

She has also appeared in a commercial for the Montana Meth Project titled "That Guy".^{[specify][citation needed]}

According to Whitney Port's twitter page, Willa will be playing the role of Scarlett in the film LA Candy, based on Lauren Conrad's book.

On May 17, 2010, Square Enix announced that she will be voicing a character in the upcoming Playstation Portable title, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, which will be released on September 7, 2010 in North America.^[10]

[edit] Filmography

Holland at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Willa Holland

• Willa Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Willa Holland on Twitter