Alycia Debnam-Carey Biography

Alycia Jasmin Debnam-Carey (born 20 July 1993) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Commander Lexa in The CW series The 100 and her portrayal of Alicia Clark on the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead (the companion series to The Walking Dead). Debnam-Carey has also starred in the 2014 films Into the Storm and The Devil's Hand, and appeared in the television series McLeod's Daughters, Dream Life, and Next Stop Hollywood. In 2016, she starred in the German film Friend Request.

Early life

In 2011, Debnam-Carey graduated from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, where she was a percussionist. In 2010, in partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic, she and around 40 other musicians worked together and composed a piece in a two-week program. Debnam-Carey also studied for ten years in classical percussion and has said that she almost went to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but decided that it wasn't what she actually wanted to do. In her last year of school, Debnam-Carey took her HSC exams and managed to get top band (how the HSC results are divided, 1 being lowest, 6 being highest) in six of her courses.These included English Advanced, English Extension 1, Drama, Modern History, Music and Visual Arts. Debnam-Carey also received the Premier's award for receiving a score of 90 in 6 subjects.

Career

2003-12: Career beginnings

Alycia Debnam-Carey started acting at the age of 8. In 2003, she co-starred in Rachel Ward's award winning short-feature film Martha"?s New Coat. Later, Debnam-Carey guest-starred in Australian drama series McLeod"?s Daughters. In 2008, she appeared in television film Dream Life and short film Jigsaw Girl. Debnam-Carey also showed up in the other short films At the Tattooist and The Branch. In 2010, she co-starred in the unsold pilot Resistance, and guest-starred in another Australian drama series, Dance Academy.

2012-13: Los Angeles and Next Stop Hollywood

Debnam-Carey began to make her mark in Hollywood at the age of 18, when she traveled to the U.S. for the first time. She starred as the youngest cast member in Next Stop Hollywood, a six-part documentary that followed six Australian actors as they competed for roles during the U.S. TV pilot season. Her mother, Leone Carey, is a television writer, and she accompanied Alycia on her journey.

Just after two weeks in Hollywood, Debnam-Carey auditioned for the role of Carrie Bradshaw for the new CW series The Carrie Diaries and was asked to audition for an independent feature film, a thriller set in the Amish community. After two more weeks in Hollywood, Debnam-Carey had landed on the short list for The Carrie Diaries and had been offered a lead role in a feature film, The Devil's Hand, then known as The Occult, and the next week left Hollywood to meet a film director in Canada. In the sixth and final week in Hollywood, Debnam-Carey started filming The Devil's Hand in North Carolina. In the end, Debnam-Carey lost the role of Carrie in The Carrie Diaries to actress AnnaSophia Robb. The documentary aired in 2013 on ABC1 in Australia.

While staying in LA, Debnam-Carey became a Heath Ledger Scholarship Finalist in July 2012.

2014-present: Breakthrough, The 100 and Fear the Walking Dead

In 2014, Debnam-Carey co-starred in American disaster film Into the Storm. Following The Devil's Hand, Debnam-Carey was cast in a series pilot called Galyntine for AMC, though AMC ultimately opted not to take the pilot to series. Debnam-Carey also made an appearance in Made in Hollywood in the same year.

Debnam-Carey guest starred in season two of CW's The 100, first appearing in episode six as Commander Lexa, a powerful leader of twelve clans. She became one of the fan favorites. At San Diego Comic Con International 2015, it was confirmed by show's creator Jason Rothenberg that Debnam-Carey would be returning to the show's third season in a recurring role.

In December 2014, the first four lead roles of The Walking Dead spin-off series Fear the Walking Dead were cast, including Debnam-Carey as Alicia. The first photos of Debnam-Carey on set showed up after production began on the remaining five first-season episodes on 11 May 2015, in Vancouver. Production for the show in Canada concluded at the end of June 2015 and finished in July 2015 in Los Angeles. Fear the Walking Dead debuted on 23 August, 2015 and is ordered for 2 seasons. At the Television Critics Association Press Tour, it was announced that AMC ordered 15 episodes for season 2. On April 15, 2016, AMC announced the series had been renewed for a 16-episode third season to air in 2017. On 27 August, Debnam-Carey made her first talk show appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Debnam-Carey also appeared in the lead role of Laura in the German thriller Friend Request, originally named Unfriend. The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2015, but was eventually released in Germany on 7 January 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Martha's New Coat	Elsie
2008	Jigsaw Girl	Caitlyn	Short film
2010	At the Tattooist	Jane	Short film
2011	The Branch	Mia	Short film
2014	Into the Storm	Kaitlyn Johnston
2014	The Devil's Hand	Mary
2016	Friend Request	Laura Woodson
TBA	Liked	Roxy	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	McLeod's Daughters	Chloe Sanderson	Episode: "Second Best"
2008	Dream Life	Cassie	Television film
2008	Resistance	Genevieve "Gen" Leone	Pilot
2010	Dance Academy	Mia	Episode: "Perfection"
2014	Galyntine	Essin	Unsold pilot
2014-2016	The 100	Commander Lexa	Recurring role (seasons 2-3); 16 episodes
2015-present	Fear the Walking Dead	Alicia Clark	Lead role: 20 episodes

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist
2010	Eli	Mailer Daemon / Lincoln Davis
2011	She's Like a Comet	Jebediah

Awards and nominations

MTV Fandom Awards

Year	Category	Nominated Work	Result	Source(s)
2015	Ship of the Year (shared with Eliza Taylor)	The 100
2016	Fan Freakout of the Year
	Ship of the Year (shared with Eliza Taylor)
	Best Fandom (shared with the cast)

E! Awards

Year	Category	Nominated Work	Result	Source(s)
2015	Best Kiss (shared with Eliza Taylor)	The 100
	Best Guest Star
	Best Cast On Social Media (shared with the cast)
2016	Best Couple (shared with Eliza Taylor)
	Steamiest/Sexiest Moment (shared with Eliza Taylor)
	Most Heartbreaking Goodbye (shared with Eliza Taylor)
	Best Fight (shared with Zach McGowan)
	Best Kiss (shared with Eliza Taylor)
	Moment That Made You Want To Throw Out Your TV
	Best Guest Star
	Best Cast On Social Media (shared with the cast)
	Best Fandom (shared with Eliza Taylor)	Clexa
	Female Breakout Star	The 100 Fear The Walking Dead

Saturn Awards

Year	Category	Nominated Work	Result	Source(s)
2017	Best Younger Actor on a Television Series	Fear the Walking Dead

RadioTimes

Year	Category	Nominated Work	Result	Source(s)
2016	Sci-Fi Champion	The 100