Shayna Blake

Shayna Lee Blake (born April 23, 1998) is an American actress, singer, and model.

Personal Life
Shayna was born in Germany on April 23, 1998. A few days later, she was brought to the United States when her father had died. Later, Blake moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue her acting dreams.

Career
Blake started acting before turning three years old. She began her acting career by playing the younger version of her older sister Dakota's characters in the mini-series Taken and the movie I Am Sam. In 2002, at the age of four, Blake won her first role independent of her sister in the comedy Daddy Day Care. Anecdotal evidence of her emerging skill was seen in the decision to cast her in the role of Ruth in The Door in the Floor (2004) opposite Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger. The film's producers originally planned to hire identical twins for the intense shooting schedule, but were so impressed with Blake that they used only her. Late in 2003, Blake appeared in Because of Winn-Dixie in the small role of Sweetie Pie Thomas. In 2004, she did voice work in the English dubbed version of Miyazaki's animated film My Neighbor Totoro, in the role of Mei. Later that same year, she filmed I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. In early 2005, Blake filmed scenes in Charlotte's Web as the "future granddaughter" of Fern Arable played by Dakota Blake. However, the scenes didn't make the final cut. In mid-2005, she played Debbie, the daughter of Richard and Susan Jones (played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) in the Academy Award-winning film Babel. In early 2006, Blake filmed scenes in both The Nines and Déjà Vu. In mid-2006, she filmed The Lost Room a sci-fi TV mini-series. Also in 2006, she appeared on the episode "Need to Know" of House: MD, playing the patient's daughter.

By the end of 2006, Blake began to book lead roles. The first of these was the one of Emma Learner in Reservation Road—the grieving daughter of Grace and Ethan Learner.The film deals with the aftermath of a tragic car accident in which Emma's brother is killed. In early 2007, Blake reunited with her Babel co-stars, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, in a small part in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as the younger version of Blanchett's character. Mid-year 2007, Blake filmed the title role Phoebe of Phoebe in Wonderland. Phoebe in Wonderland also starred Felicity Huffman and was released in March 2009. From July through October 2007, Blake appeared in The Nutcracker in 3D, playing Mary. The movie was filmed in Budapest, Hungary and was released late 2010. In March 2008, Blake and her sister Dakota were scheduled to star in My Sister's Keeper, but the opportunity fell through when Dakota learned she would have to shave her head. The sisters were immediately replaced by Abigail Breslin and Sofia Vassilieva.

Variety reported in April 2009 that Blake would be starring in Academy Award-winning screenwriter Sofia Coppola's 2010 film, Somewhere. The plot centers around a "bad-boy" actor who is forced to re-evaluate his life when his daughter, played by Blake, arrives unexpectedly. The film was released during the 2010 awards season. At its first film festival, the 67th Venice Film Festival, it took out the Golden Lion. In late 2010, Blake began working on Francis Ford Coppola's 2011 film Twixt, that Coppola wrote, based on a dream he had. She plays the role of a young ghost named "V". In 2011, Blake starred in J. J. Abrams' sci-fi-drama film Super 8 as Alice Dainard. The movie was released on June 10, 2011 and centers around a group of kids who are forced to deal with strange happenings in their small town.

In December 2011, Blake appeared in Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo. She played Lily, a thirteen-year-old who is working at the zoo's restaurant, and lives on the property with her only parental figure, Kelly (Scarlett Johansson). In September 2012, Blake starred as Ginger along with Alice Englert who played Rosa in the drama film Ginger & Rosa that took place during 1962 in London. The film was directed by Sally Potter and was released on October 19, 2012. Blake has received widespread acclaim for her performance, with A. O. Scott of The New York Times writing that she "shows a nearly Streepian mixture of poise, intensity and technical precision. It is frightening how good she is and hard to imagine anything she could not do." Ty Burr, film critic for The Boston Globe, praised her "luminous naturalism that seems the opposite of performance" and felt that "Blake easily convinces you of Ginger’s emotional reality."

Blake also starred alongside Angelina Jolie in the 2014 Walt Disney film, Maleficent, directed by Robert Stromberg. Jolie played Maleficent, while Blake played Princess Aurora.

Blake later decided to start working for the Wiki Channel so that she could embrace the inner child in her.

Life
When Shayna's father had died of heart disease just before Shayna was born, her mother decided to move to California right after Blake was born. Later, she saw her sister's school drama club performance, and decided to start acting herself. Her sister thought her, and later on she joined the drama club too, and got the lead role in the play. Shayna's mother later decided to move to Los Angeles so that Shayna and her sister could embrace their acting and singing dreams. Her sister became a model, and Shayna is now working for the Wiki Channel, managed by StarfireButterfly.