Willa Holland Biography

Willa Joanna Chance Holland (born June 18, 1991) is an American actress and fashion model. She is best known for her role as Kaitlin Cooper, Marissa Cooper's younger sister, on the television series The O.C.. She also appeared on The CW series Gossip Girl, as Agnes Andrews, and Arrow, as Thea Queen.

Early life

Holland was born in Los Angeles, 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). 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, Paul Revere Middle School, and Palisades Charter High School.

Career

Holland spent the summer of 1999 in The Hamptons with her family. After a day playing at Steven Spielberg's home with now model Shadat Patwary, 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!". Upon her return to Los Angeles that September, Holland signed with Ford Modeling Agency at age seven, and immediately booked a shoot for Burberry.

The following year, 1999, De Palma took Holland to a theatrical talent agency. Since then she has shot many national commercials. During 2001 when Holland 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.; initially as a recurring character in season 3, but then as a regular in season 4. Incidentally, Holland was a fan of The O.C. before landing the role of Marissa Cooper's (Mischa Barton) rebellious "little" sister.

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 handbags for Macy's. She has also appeared in a commercial for the Montana Meth Project titled "That Guy".

In December 2007 Holland was cast in the independent drama film Garden Party. Holland played the role of April, a troubled teenage aspiring model who tries to make it in Los Angeles. The film opened in selective cinemas in Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle on July 11, 2008. Despite Holland receiving critical acclaim for her performance, the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

In September 2008 it was announced that Holland had scored a three-episode stint in the second season of The CW teen drama television series Gossip Girl. The series is also created by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz. Holland played the role of a rebellious sixteen-year-old model who befriends and creates havoc for Taylor Momsen's character. In March 2010 Holland made a one-off return to the series in the shows sixteenth episode of the third season "The Empire Strikes Jack" which aired on March 29, 2010.

On May 17, 2010, Square Enix announced that she would be voicing Aqua in the PlayStation Portable title, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, which was released on September 7, 2010 in North America. That same year Holland starred in her first major studio film in the apocalyptic thriller film Legion playing the role of a bratty teenager. She also made a notable cameo appearance in the film The Last Song, and she played the teen-temptress role of Janice Heddon in the film Straw Dogs, a remake of the 1971 film of the same name. The film opened in September 2011.

In February 2012, Holland was cast in The CW action-adventure series Arrow where she plays Thea Queen, the sister of Oliver Queen.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Ordinary Madness	Young Faye
2004	'	Milkshake
2008	Chasing 3000	Jamie
2008	Garden Party	April
2008	Middle of Nowhere	Taylor Elizabeth Berry
2008	Genova	Kelly
2010	Legion	Audrey Anderson
2010	Humanity's Last Line of Defense	Herself	Documentary
2011	Straw Dogs	Janice Hedden
2012	Tiger Eyes	Davey Wexler

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	'	Kalla	Episode: "Valerie Hangs with the Cool Kids"
2006"2007	'	Kaitlin Cooper	Recurring (season 3), main cast (season 4), 22 episodes
2008, 2010, 2012	Gossip Girl	Agnes Andrews	5 episodes (1 uncredited)
2012"present	Arrow	Thea Queen	Main cast

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Scarface: The World Is Yours		Voice
2010	Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep	Aqua	Voice
2012	Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance	Aqua	Voice

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist
2008	"Keep Me Up All Night"
2010	"Fearless Love"	Melissa Etheridge