Mckenna Grace Says Playing the Older Version of a Character in “A Friend of the Family” Was “Special”

Mckenna Grace is grateful to not be playing the younger version of an older actor for a change. Grace plays Jan Broberg in Peacock’s “A Friend of the Family,” which premiered on Oct. 6 and tells the terrifying true story of Robert Berchtold, who kidnapped Broberg in 1974 and again in 1976.

The 16-year-old actor has played younger versions of many different characters over the years. She was the young version of Margot Robbie’s Tonya Harding in “I, Tonya,” Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers in “Captain Marvel,” and Annabelle Wallis’s Madison Lake in “Malignant,” to name a few. Finally, though, “A Friend of the Family” has allowed her to experience things from the other side.

“It was really special to finally have a younger version of myself,” she tells POPSUGAR. “That was so cool. Hendrix [Yancey] on our show, who plays the younger ages of Jan, was so fun. She’s so smart, and it was really cool to be able to talk to her and try to pick up on what she was doing and [have] her pick up on me as well.”

Up next, Grace will reprise her role in “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” appearing in the December 2023 sequel. She’s also set to appear alongside “Stranger Things” star Dacre Montgomery in “Spider & Jessie,” a story about sisters dealing with the foster care system. Watch the full interview above.