Biography
An accomplished model and spokesperson long before she started acting, Bella Thorne captivated teen audiences with her perky personality and relatable onscreen charm. The young star appeared in a magazine spread before she uttered her first words, and overcame a learning disability while pursuing her dreams of acting. After moving from her Florida hometown to the bright lights of Hollywood, Thorne quickly landed recurring roles on primetime dramas, from the seductive and scandalous "Dirty Sexy Money" (ABC, 2007-09), to the provocative, award-winning series "Big Love" (HBO, 2006-2011). In 2010, Thorne landed a breakout role on the buddy comedy series "Shake It Up!" (Disney Channel). Playing a young woman who works hard and stays hopeful to make her dreams come true was not far from Thorne's real-life experience, and it was her pitch-perfect performance on the show that established her as a bona fide star with a promising career beyond her teenage years. Annabella Avery Thorne was born on Oct. 8, 1997 in Pembroke Pines, FL, and raised in an Irish, Italian and Cuban household. The future star was just six weeks old when she first modeled, appearing in a pictorial for Parents magazine. Ever since then, Thorne graced the pages of international magazines and print advertisements for Barbie, Target and Ralph Lauren. She also appeared in more than 40 television commercials, including KFC and Texas Instruments. When she was in second grade, Thorne was diagnosed with dyslexia. She found it difficult to deal with other children making fun of her handicap, so her family decided to homeschool her instead. In 2010, Thorne revealed to American Cheerleader magazine that she overcame dyslexia by reading everything she could find, even the labels on cereal boxes. After relocating to California to pursue acting fulltime, Thorne appeared in an uncredited role in the Farrelly Brothers comedy feature "Stuck on You" starring Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear and Cher. Guest appearances soon followed, and Thorne found herself acting on hit primetime television series such as "Entourage" (HBO, 2004-11), "The O.C." (Fox, 2003-07), and even a few skits for late night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (ABC, 2003- ). Thorne landed her first recurring role in 2007, playing a young socialite on the ABC drama series "Dirty Sexy Money." The show revolved around a wealthy New York family and a mysterious murder involving the family's lawyer (Peter Krause). In 2008, Thorne acted opposite Christian Slater and Taylor Lautner on "My Own Worst Enemy" (Fox, 2008). She played the daughter of Slater's character, a middle-class family man who leads a double life as a secret agent, on the short-lived series. Even though "My Own Worst Enemy" only lasted nine episodes, Thorne's role earned her a Young Artist Award in 2009 for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Supporting Young Actress. That same year, Thorne landed a featured role on "Little Monk," a 10-episode Web series based on the USA criminal drama series "Monk" (2002-09) that followed the show's main characters as children. The budding star returned to primetime television when she joined the cast of the critically acclaimed series "Big Love" during its fourth season. Thorne replaced actress Jolean Wejbe in the role of Tancy "Teenie" Henrickson, the youngest daughter of polygamist Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his first wife Barbara (Jeanne Tripplehorn). After mostly acting on serious dramas, Thorne landed a guest-starring appearance on the hit Disney Channel comedy "Wizards of Waverly Place" (2007-12), starring Selena Gomez as a New York teen who, along with her family, possessed magical powers. Her "Wizards" guest appearance led to Thorne's breakout starring role on "Shake It Up!" (Disney 2010-13). The series followed aspiring dancer CeCe Jones (Thorne) and her best friend Rocky (Zendaya Coleman). The girls' dreams come true after they land featured spots on a local dance TV show. After the show ended in 2013, Thorne starred in the made for TV film "Perfect High" (Lifetime 2015) and appeared in the Adam Sandler comedy "Blended" (2014) and teen comedy "The DUFF" (2015). Thorne next starred in the indie thriller "Big Sky" (2015) and drama "Shovel Buddies" (2016). After appearing in "Boo! A Madea Halloween" (2016) and starring in horror "Keep Watching" (2017), Thorne starred in thriller "You Get Me" (2017) and appeared in horror-comedy "The Babysitter" (2017). Thorne returned to television in the lead role of the romantic drama "Famous In Love" (Freeform 2017- ). The following year, Thorne appeared in ensemble black comedy "Assassination Nation" (2018) and starred in omantic drama "Midnight Sun" (2018) and supernatural thriller "I Still See You" (2018).
