Singer and actress China Anne McClain, who used to play the role of a cute little girl in Tyler Perry films and TV shows, is now a 23-year-old woman. She recently decided to pause her Hollywood career to focus on her personal projects that she hopes will help others.
China started acting at the age of 7. From 2007 to 2012, she starred as Jazmine Payne in the television series Tyler Perry's House of Payne. In 2007, she also starred in Tyler Perry's Daddy's Girls along with her sisters. From 2011 to 2014, she starred in Disney's A.N.T. Farm, and from 2018 to 2021, she played a main role in the hit Netflix superhero series Black Lightning as Jennifer Pierce/Lightning.Now, however, at 23 years old, she has taken a step back from her Hollywood career. She said she wanted to take her time to create projects that tackle mental health and self-identity for the youth.
"I have a lot of stories that I want to tell that I think are going to help a lot of these kids that are constantly tweeting me and leaving comments on my TikToks and Instagram posts about where they're at in life and how they've hit an all-time low, and how they're depressed and how they're anxious and stressed and they can't seem to get out of it," she told Teen Vogue.
"I have projects that could actually help them and help those things. It was just time to go and time to focus on my babies that I'm developing with my production company and my family." she continued.
She said those topics are very close to her heart as she herself was impacted by the death of her best friend, Cameron Boyce, who was also her co-star in the popular Disney film series Descendants.
Moreover, China, who revealed she kept her hair long before to help hide her acne, is now sporting a cool short hairstyle. She said it gave her a "feeling of freedom that I hadn't felt previously. The only feeling I felt that compares to that type of freedom is finding God and building a relationship with him."
Aside from her personal projects that she is excited about, China also keeps herself busy with her hobbies such as singing, sculpting, dancing, and painting. She also finds time to nurture her faith which she said is what gives her the confidence that she is on the right path.
"It's about perspective a lot of times because I was focusing on a lot of the wrong things and valued a lot of the wrong things over things that I should have been focusing on in valuing. So now I'm just able to enjoy life without trying to rush everything and get ahead. Get ahead to what? Just live," she said.
Follow her on Instagram @ChinaMcClain
