Mckenna Grace Draws a Firm Line on Future Roles, and a Disney Fairy Tale Is Why

Few young actors have grown up on screen as publicly as Mckenna Grace. She was already in front of a camera at 6 years old, landing her first television role in 2012 on Disney XD’s ‘Crash & Bernstein.’ Now 20, she has spent more than a decade building a résumé that moves easily between family comedy and prestige drama.

Her performance in ‘Gifted’ earned a Critics’ Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer, and she also played a young Tonya Harding in ‘I, Tonya.’ Her turn in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ later brought her an Emmy nomination in 2021. Few actors her age can claim that kind of range, which makes the choices she makes next worth watching.

Her latest big swing is the dystopian world of Panem. In ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,’ she plays tribute Maysilee Donner, who forms an unlikely alliance with Haymitch Abernathy inside the arena. The film is scheduled to reach cinemas on Nov. 20, 2026.

That press run is where the headline-making comment came from. According to Variety’s report, Grace told Cosmopolitan that she turns down roles involving “nudity or hypersexual things.” She said she does so because she dreams of one day playing a Disney princess on the big screen.

She was careful to say she isn’t opposed to dark material. She pointed out that her character in ‘Scream’ gets gutted by Ghostface, so she doesn’t only take wholesome parts. The line she draws, in other words, is about what she is willing to show, not how grim the story can get.

Variety noted that her stance recalls Amy Adams, who became an iconic Disney princess in 2007 as Giselle in ‘Enchanted’ and then passed on raunchier projects in the years after to protect that image. It is a pointed comparison, since the princess persona has long been a double-edged sword for the actresses who wear the crown.

The comment also landed in a larger conversation about child stars growing up. Evie Magazine argued that the shift from child star to adult actress so often seems to demand getting naked, and it called Grace’s attitude refreshing. The outlet also pointed to Christy Carlson Romano’s account that some Disney stars pursued a Maxim cover after leaving the studio.

Grace has been leaning into the fairy-tale look lately, too. At the 98th Academy Awards in March, she walked the red carpet in a ballgown in a princess-pink shade. During the ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ press tour in October, she drew attention for channeling Rapunzel.

Fans have been dreaming up the casting for a while. Spanish site eCartelera previously reported that Sadie Sink, Mckenna Grace and Emma Myers were considered favorites to play Rapunzel in Disney’s live-action ‘Tangled.’ That is speculation rather than confirmation, but it shows how easily audiences can picture her in the role.

The interview is part of Cosmopolitan’s Winter 2026 cover story, which also features her ‘Hunger Games’ co-stars Whitney Peak and Maya Hawke. With a packed slate ahead and a major franchise release just weeks away, Grace seems to know exactly where she wants her career to land.

Whether Disney eventually calls remains to be seen. For now, she is making it clear that the fairy tale is still very much on her mind.