Maika Monroe is an American actress and kiteboarder. She is best known for her roles in It Follows (2014) and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). In this biography, Monroe tells her story in her own words.

MAIKA MONROE BIOGRAPHY: EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, EDUCATION

Dillon Monroe Buckley was born on May 29, 1993 (Maika Monroe age: 28). She was raised in Santa Barbara, California by Dixie Buckley and Jack Buckley as an only child. She went by the nickname “Maika” for so long that she eventually made the change legal.

At only 17 years old, Monroe moved to Cabarete, a city in the Dominican Republic. She had spent the previous summer there working on her kiteboarding skills and decided to take her hobby to the professional level. Monroe completed her education online while practicing her kite skills, which she had been honing since the age of 13.

MAIKA MONROE BIOGRAPHY: MOVIES AND TV SHOWS

In addition to competing as a professional kiteboarder, Monroe sought out a career in acting from a young age. Her first role was a minor appearance in an episode of the TV series Eleventh Hour (2009). She didn’t return to the screen for three years, when she appeared in the short films The Darkness is Close and Butch Walker and the Black Widows. Also in 2012, Monroe scored her first movie role, playing Maika in the horror-romance Bad Blood.

Monroe continued to play minor film characters, such as Joan in Flying Monkeys and Mandy in Labor Day (2013). She made a cameo in The Bling Ring in 2013 and a larger impression as Anna Peterson in The Guest (2014). Later in 2014, Monroe landed her first role in a major motion picture, It Follows. Her performance in the thriller earned her three award nominations and three victories, including an Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer.

Monroe didn’t slow down after these successes. In 2015, she acted in the films The 5th Wave and Echoes of War. Monroe also played Lila in the short film Burned, receiving much critical acclaim. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by FilmQuest and for Best Actress at the Portsmouth International Film Festival. The following year, Monroe appeared in the drama Bokeh as well as the sci-fi adventure film Independence Day: Resurgence. The Resurgence cast – including Liam Hemsworth and Vivica A. Fox – won the CinemaCon Award for Ensemble of the Universe.

2017 was a hectic year for Monroe. She kicked it off with a role in Hot Summer Nights, which also starred Timothée Chalamet of Call Me By Your Name fame. Monroe played Jody Linder in The Secret of Rain & Lightning and Karen in I’m Not Here later in 2017. Additionally, she appeared in The Tribes of Palos Verdes and After Everything. Monroe’s final role of the year was that of Joan Felt in the biopic Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House. This film also featured Liam Neeson, Diane Lane and Ike Barinholtz.

Monroe dove deeper into acting in 2018, focusing her talents on just three projects. She played Julia in the film Tau and Erica Penn in Chloë Grace Moretz’s Greta. In 2019, Monroe appeared in Honey Boy, a drama starring Shia LaBeouf and Lucas Hedges. She also played Lucy in the short film How to Be Alone and Jules in the movie Villains.

MAIKA MONROE BIOGRAPHY: Exclusive Interview On ‘Villains’

In August 2019, Monroe sat down with uInterview to discuss her new film Villains. Careful not to spoil the plot, she explained that a young man and woman break into a house in hopes of stealing a car. However, said Monroe, “what they find in the house is a dark secret that gets them into even more trouble.”

Monroe went on to reveal which scene was the most fun to film with co-star Bill Skarsgard. She pointed to one clip in which the characters rob a gas station with ski masks on. “We had so much fun filming that!” Monroe recounted. “With these masks on, we can’t really see what we’re doing or where we’re going, so we’re bumping into things, but it kind of worked.”

When asked about working alongside actors Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick, Monroe lit up. “They’re incredible,” she told uInterview exclusively. “I’m such a fan of their work, and being able to work opposite them was really, really cool.”

In addition to her Villains castmates, Monroe sang the praises of the film’s directors. She claimed to have had “one of the most incredible times” working with Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. “Their notes and the way that they would work with actors was really incredible,” she said. “It was a really safe environment where we could explore and do crazy things.”

MAIKA MONROE BIOGRAPHY: UPCOMING PROJECTS

Fans of Monroe’s have a number of projects to look forward to in the coming year. The actress has completed filming for The Education of Fredrick Fitzell, a thriller starring Dylan O’Brien and Hannah Gross. Another Monroe film, The Sound of Philadelphia, has entered the post-production stages and is set to release in 2020. The actress is currently filming for a TV series called The Stranger.

MAIKA MONROE BIOGRAPHY: PERSONAL LIFE, DATING HISTORY, KITEBOARDING

Monroe has succeeded in keeping most of her private life private despite her success as an actress. However, she has been reported as the girlfriend of Joe Keery, a star of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. Monroe’s other love, kiteboarding, also remains a major part of her life.

MAIKA MONROE BIOGRAPHY: QUOTES

“I started kiteboarding when I was 13. My dad was a kiteboarder, and I begged him to teach me until he finally agreed. He made me wait because it can be dangerous.”

“I’ve seen so many scripts, and I want to do everything. Like with kiteboarding, you have to be fearless. I’m not scared.”

“With kiting you have to land a trick, and in that instant you know whether you won or lost–I knew I could become the best in the world if I trained. But with acting, there are different variations; there’s not a right or wrong way. It’s so hard because it’s so out of your hands. I have no idea what’s going to happen!”

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