2005–2010: ''Daddy's Little Girls and Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' McClain was discovered in 2005 by a music executive who heard her singing and encouraged director
Rob Hardy to audition her for his 2005 feature film
The Gospel. McClain auditioned for the
Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In! (2007) and she won a role, but turned it down because she was too young. Instead, she starred in the television sitcom ''
Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' (2007–present) as Jazmine Payne, after catching
Tyler Perry's attention. Disney kept working with McClain where she booked many guest roles in the years to come. and the sports drama film
Hurricane Season (2009). In 2009, McClain booked the starring role as Janet in the Disney Channel pilot
Jack and Janet Save the Planet alongside future co-stars McCormick and
Jake Short. The
pilot was not picked up and never aired. She also appeared in the 2010 comedy film
Grown Ups as Charlotte McKenzie, the daughter of
Chris Rock's and
Maya Rudolph's characters. and performs alongside
Nick Jonas for the song "Your Biggest Fan" which was featured both in the series and on
Jonas L.A., the show's soundtrack album.
2011–2014: A.N.T. Farm and the McClain Sisters In February 2011, McClain guest-starred on
Wizards of Waverly Place (2011). In May, McClain won the NAMIC Vision Award for Best Performance – Actress of Comedy, for her performance as Jazmine Payne. She sang and composed the series' theme music titled "Exceptional". For the show, McClain recorded a cover of
Taio Cruz's "
Dynamite", for which the music video amassed more than 1 million views in under a week after release on
YouTube. She appeared in an episode of
PrankStars (2011). For the Disney Channel Halloween special in 2011, she performed the song "
Calling All the Monsters". On June 14, 2011, McClain and her sisters – known as the
McClain Sisters – signed with
Hollywood Records. The
A.N.T. Farm soundtrack was released on October 11, 2011, which includes McClain's version of "Dynamite" and her original song "Calling All the Monsters", among other songs performed by her featured in the show with new songs performed by some of her fellow cast members and two songs performed by the
McClain Sisters. The soundtrack for the show was successful, spending five weeks on the
Billboard Kids chart in 2011, peaked at number 29 on the US
Billboard 200, peaked at number 2 on the US
Top Soundtracks, and sold 14,000 copies within the first week of release. On September 28, 2011, McClain released "Calling All the Monsters" to
iTunes. "Calling All the Monsters" charted at number 86 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, and received 25,000 downloads within its first week of release. That same month McClain earned a
J-14 Teen Icon Award nomination for Icon of Tomorrow..''|leftOn November 10, 2011, McClain met with the then First Lady
Michelle Obama at the
White House to speak about the
Joining Forces initiative; the next day,
Disney Channel aired messages promoting the initiative, which its event recognizes America's military families and children, and brings awareness on
Veterans Day. On November 19, 2011, McClain performed at the
Magnificent Mile Lights Festival in
Chicago, IL. On November 24, 2011, she performed her song "Unstoppable" at the 85th
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In December, McClain and her sisters, Sierra and Lauryn, performed their new version of the song "
Jingle Bell Rock" at the 2011
Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade. In February 2012, McClain performed her song "Unstoppable" and guest-starred in the sketch comedy/variety TV series
So Random!. Later that month, she received an
NAACP Image Award nomination for
Outstanding Performance by a Youth for her performance as Chyna Parks in
A.N.T. Farm. On March 11, 2012, the McClain Sisters performed their new song called "
Rise", featured in the
Disneynature film
Chimpanzee, at the
Mall of America. The song was released on March 23, 2012. The music video premiered on March 25, 2012 during an episode of
Austin & Ally. It was also a featured song for
Disney's Friends for Change. On April 9, 2012, McClain performed at the 2012
White House Easter Egg Roll with her sisters. In September, McClain earned a nomination for another
J-14 Teen Icon Award as an Iconic Triple Threat. In December, it was announced that she was nominated for another
NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding Performance by a Youth for
A.N.T. Farm. McClain was one of the award presenters at the
2013 Radio Disney Music Awards in April. In July, she reprised her role as Charlotte McKenzie in the 2013 sequel
Grown Ups 2. On December 27, 2013, it was announced on her Twitter page that
A.N.T. Farm would be ending after its third season. The series finale aired on March 21, 2014. On the same day, it was revealed that the McClain Sisters had left Hollywood Records. The McClain Sisters changed their name to simply McClain, their last names. In the March/April 2014 issue of
BYOU magazine, McClain stated it was "bittersweet" that
A.N.T Farm was ending, and announced plans to focus on doing music with her sisters. For her performance in the series, in 2014, McClain won both the NAMIC Vision Award for Best Performance – Actress of Comedy, She competed from May to June of that year, performing as several iconic singers:
Rihanna,
Tina Turner,
Michael Jackson,
Alicia Keys,
James Brown, and
Whitney Houston; she won the show's first and only season. In August, McClain starred in the Disney Channel television film
How to Build a Better Boy (2014) alongside
Kelli Berglund, and released the single "Something Real" which was featured in the film. For her performance, McClain received an
NAACP Image Award nomination for
Outstanding Performance by a Youth. In November 2014, McClain guest-starred on ''
R.L. Stine's The Haunted Hour'' in the episode "Argh V".
2015–2021: Descendants and Black Lightning In 2015, McClain was featured in the
FOX series
Bones (2015) in the episode "The Lost in the Found", playing Kathryn Walling. McClain sang "Night is Young" on the soundtrack for the
Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants. Her song also appeared in
Descendants: Wicked World (2015). She voiced Freddie, the daughter of Dr. Facilier. Her sister,
Lauryn McClain, voiced the character in season 2. McClain voiced the role of Ghufaira in the animated Biblical action-drama film
Bilal: A New Breed of Hero (2015). She went on to guest-star on
The Night Shift, and starred in a voice role as Lyra in the English-language version of the Slavic film
Sheep and Wolves, both in 2016. On November 25, 2016, McClain performed her cover of the song "
This Christmas" at the
Disney Parks Presents: A Descendants Magical Holiday Celebration. In April 2017, she was an award presenter at the
2017 Radio Disney Music Awards. In June,
Variety named her one of the "10 TV Stars to Watch in 2017" for her role as Jennifer Pierce in her then-upcoming 2018 television series
Black Lightning. In July,
Descendants 2 premiered, in which she played the villain Uma, the daughter of
Ursula. Her single "
What's My Name" from the film peaked on several
Billboard charts and was certified
gold, with 500,000 units sold, on November 10, 2017. and starred as Meg in the
Lifetime television film
Ten: Murder Island (2017), which she also
executive produced. In January 2018, McClain began playing as Jennifer Pierce in
Black Lightning on
The CW, and in February reprised her role as Jazmine Payne on
The Paynes (2018). Later that year in September, she reprised her role as Uma in the television short film
Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story. In November, she starred in the
action thriller film Blood Brother, opposite
Trey Songz and
Ron Killings. In November 2018, McClain performed her original song "Young Guns" during a second-season episode of
Black Lightning. In August 2019, McClain reprised her role as Uma in
Descendants 3. In February 2020, it was announced that ''
Tyler Perry's House of Payne would be revived on BET in the next season. In June 2020, the girl group changed their name to Thriii, and performed at Radio Disney Presents ARDYs Summer Playlist. On August 20, it was announced that Tyler Perry's House of Payne
would premiere on September 2, 2020. Later that year, McClain was part of the cast of the Netflix dark comedy Hubie Halloween''. In March 2021, McClain left
Black Lightning and her role was recast with Laura Kariuki. McClain, however, later returned to reprise her role in the series finale. == Personal life ==