Amanda Michalka
Encyclopedia
Amanda Joy "AJ" Michalka (born April 10, 1991), often credited as AJ, is an American actress, singer-songwriter
, and musician
. She used to be a model
prior to becoming an actress, and was best known as one-half of the duo 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) with her sister, Alyson Michalka
. AJ recently recorded the theme song for the film Secretariat
, entitled "It's Who You Are". A video was released along with the single.
and Southern California
with her sister Aly. Her father, Mark, owns a contracting company, and her mother, Carrie, is a musician and performed with JC Band, a Christian band. Michalka has been playing the piano
since she was four and started playing the guitar
in her early teens. She started acting when she was five years old, mostly in church play productions. She was raised as a Christian
and continues to practice the faith. Michalka was in a number of musical productions
at her school in Milwaukee as a young adult.
such as acoustic guitar
, electric guitar
, piano
, and bongos
. She was a model
for catalogs
. In March 2006, she made her Disney Channel
debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles
, as "Courtney Callum", along with sister Aly, as "Taylor Callum". She has also made appearances on shows such as Oliver Beene
, Six Feet Under, The Guardian
, and General Hospital
. She has also appeared with her sister, Aly, in the MTV film Super Sweet 16: The Movie
.
In 2009, she was featured in the Peter Jackson
film The Lovely Bones
, released widely on January 15, 2010.
Michalka and her sister perform as the musical duo 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ). They have released two studio albums and a holiday album. The two are working on a new album, to be released in early 2011. She was cast as a recurring character into The CW series Hellcats
starring Ashley Tisdale
and along with her sister Alyson Michalka
. The series ran for one season and was cancelled in May 2011.
Michalka appeared in the 2011 film Super 8
.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. She used to be a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
prior to becoming an actress, and was best known as one-half of the duo 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) with her sister, Alyson Michalka
Alyson Michalka
Alyson Renae "Aly" Michalka , often credited as Aly, is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and musician. Michalka gained fame for playing the role of Marti Perkins in the CW television drama Hellcats...
. AJ recently recorded the theme song for the film Secretariat
Secretariat (film)
Secretariat is a 2010 biographical film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mayhem Pictures, and directed by Randall Wallace. The film chronicles the life of thoroughbred race horse Secretariat, winner of the Triple Crown in 1973...
, entitled "It's Who You Are". A video was released along with the single.
Early life
Michalka lived and grew up in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
and Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
with her sister Aly. Her father, Mark, owns a contracting company, and her mother, Carrie, is a musician and performed with JC Band, a Christian band. Michalka has been playing the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
since she was four and started playing the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
in her early teens. She started acting when she was five years old, mostly in church play productions. She was raised as a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and continues to practice the faith. Michalka was in a number of musical productions
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
at her school in Milwaukee as a young adult.
Career
She plays a variety of instrumentsMusical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
such as acoustic guitar
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
, electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
. She was a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
for catalogs
Trade literature
Trade literature is a general term including catalogues. Definitions of the term "trade catalog" vary, but in general, trade catalogs are printed materials published by manufacturing, wholesaling, or retailing firms...
. In March 2006, she made her Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles
Cow Belles
Cow Belles is a 2006 romantic teen comedy film inspired by the Fox series The Simple Life which formerly starred Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The filmed starred Aly Michalka and AJ Michalka, better known as sister duo Aly & AJ. The movie was filmed in Toronto, Canada...
, as "Courtney Callum", along with sister Aly, as "Taylor Callum". She has also made appearances on shows such as Oliver Beene
Oliver Beene
Oliver Beene is an American sitcom that premiered on Fox on March 9, 2003. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Beene , in first person perspective...
, Six Feet Under, The Guardian
The Guardian (TV series)
The Guardian is an American drama series which aired on CBS from September 25, 2001 to May 4, 2004. It is currently showing in re-runs on the Sleuth Channel in the US. The Guardian has also aired in the United Kingdom on the Hallmark Channel, ABC1 and more recently five USA and as of August...
, and General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
. She has also appeared with her sister, Aly, in the MTV film Super Sweet 16: The Movie
Super Sweet 16: The Movie
Super Sweet 16: The Movie is an MTV television film, based on the series My Super Sweet 16. It stars teen pop stars Aly & AJ and features performances by Hellogoodbye and Pretty Ricky...
.
In 2009, she was featured in the Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
film The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones (film)
The Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...
, released widely on January 15, 2010.
Michalka and her sister perform as the musical duo 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ). They have released two studio albums and a holiday album. The two are working on a new album, to be released in early 2011. She was cast as a recurring character into The CW series Hellcats
Hellcats
Hellcats is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010 to May 17, 2011...
starring Ashley Tisdale
Ashley Tisdale
Ashley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series...
and along with her sister Alyson Michalka
Alyson Michalka
Alyson Renae "Aly" Michalka , often credited as Aly, is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and musician. Michalka gained fame for playing the role of Marti Perkins in the CW television drama Hellcats...
. The series ran for one season and was cancelled in May 2011.
Michalka appeared in the 2011 film Super 8
Super 8 (film)
Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction action film written and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and was released on June 10, 2011 in conventional and IMAX theaters...
.
Films
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitty's Dish | 2005 | Kitty | Unsold TV pilot |
| Haversham Hall | 2006 | Samantha Tillar | Unsold Disney Channel pilot |
| Cow Belles Cow Belles Cow Belles is a 2006 romantic teen comedy film inspired by the Fox series The Simple Life which formerly starred Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The filmed starred Aly Michalka and AJ Michalka, better known as sister duo Aly & AJ. The movie was filmed in Toronto, Canada... |
2006 | Courtney Callum | Made-For-TV film |
| Super Sweet 16: The Movie Super Sweet 16: The Movie Super Sweet 16: The Movie is an MTV television film, based on the series My Super Sweet 16. It stars teen pop stars Aly & AJ and features performances by Hellogoodbye and Pretty Ricky... |
2007 | Sara | Made-For-TV film |
| 2009 | Clarissa | ||
| Secretariat Secretariat (film) Secretariat is a 2010 biographical film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mayhem Pictures, and directed by Randall Wallace. The film chronicles the life of thoroughbred race horse Secretariat, winner of the Triple Crown in 1973... |
2010 | Kate Tweedy | |
| Super 8 Super 8 (film) Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction action film written and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and was released on June 10, 2011 in conventional and IMAX theaters... |
2011 | Jen Kaznyk | |
| Salem Falls | 2011 | Gillian Duncan | Finished Filming - set to air on TV. November 19, 2011 |
Television
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passions Passions Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008.... |
1999 | Sheridan's Daughter | 1 episode |
| Birds of Prey Birds of Prey (TV series) Birds of Prey is a television drama series produced in 2002. The series was developed by Laeta Kalogridis for The WB and is loosely based on the Birds of Prey DC Comics series... |
2002 | Young Dinah | 2 episodes |
| General Hospital General Hospital General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns.... |
2004 | Ashley B. | 2 episodes |
| Six Feet Under | 2004 | Ashley | 2 episodes |
| Shannon Gressler | 15 episodes | ||
| Oliver Beene Oliver Beene Oliver Beene is an American sitcom that premiered on Fox on March 9, 2003. The show was created by Howard Gewirtz. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Beene , in first person perspective... |
Bonnie | 9 episodes | |
| Hellcats Hellcats Hellcats is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010 to May 17, 2011... |
2011 | Deirdre Perkins | 5 episodes |
Solo
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "It's Who You Are" | Secretariat Secretariat (film) Secretariat is a 2010 biographical film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mayhem Pictures, and directed by Randall Wallace. The film chronicles the life of thoroughbred race horse Secretariat, winner of the Triple Crown in 1973... |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | American Music Awards American Music Awards of 2006 The 34th American Music Awards were held on November 21, 2006. They were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The awards recognized the most popular albums and artists from the year of 2005-2006. As usual, the ceremony was broadcast by ABC... |
Contemporary Inspirational Artists of the Year | Into the Rush |
External links
- Aly & AJ Official site
- Aly & AJ at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Aly and AJ Official YouTube Channel