Famous for her roles as Kaitlin Cooper, the rebellious younger sister of Marissa (Mischa Barton), on The O.C. and as Agnes Andrews, the hard-partying teen model friend of Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) on Gossip Girl, Willa Holland has positioned herself as a young talent to watch in Hollywood. While she started out as a top child model in the late '90s, Willa has slowly established an acting career with a slew of television and movie credits since 2005.
Born in Los Angeles, California to an actress mother and a cinematographer father, Holland spent her earlier childhood years in Chelsea, London where she witnessed her step-father, director Brian De Palma, at work on the movie set. Her family then moved back to Los Angeles where she attended elementary school at Kenter Canyon.
Her fate as an actress was sealed when her family spent the summer of 1998 in the house of Steven Spielberg, a close friend of her step-dad. Spielberg was the one who suggested that Willa should be put in front of the camera. Inspired by the award-winning director's words, Willa and her mother signed her with the Ford Modeling Agency upon her return to Los Angeles. She was only seven years old then and immediately booked her first professional job in a photoshoot for Burberry. Since then, Holland has done numerous national commercials.
In 2001, Willa appeared in Ordinary Madness and got the chance to work with her father, the film's Director of Photography. Her television debut came in 2005 as she played Kalla for two episodes of the HBO comedy The Comeback, supposedly the TV comeback vehicle of Lisa Kudrow after Friends. 2006 marked the year when TV fans were introduced to the spoiled little sister of Marissa Cooper, Kaitlin on the FOX drama The O.C., by far Holland's most recognized character on television.
She would have a more significant role in the show's final season after the departure of Barton. In 2008, Willa flew to New York and signed up to portray another bad girl role as Agnes, the 16-year-old model who worked for Eleanor Waldorf and became a major influence in Jenny Humphrey's life on Gossip Girl.