Joey King has been in front of a camera for most of her life. Born in Los Angeles in 1999, she started acting at four years old in a cereal commercial, and by the time she was a teenager she had already worked steadily across film and television. What sets her apart from many child performers is not just longevity but range: she has moved from family films to horror, from streaming romcoms to a true crime miniseries that earned her major award nominations.
Early Career and First Breakthroughs
King’s earliest credits include a guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and appearances in series such as The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Ghost Whisperer and Entourage. She voiced Katie in the animated film Horton Hears a Who! and appeared in the 2008 horror film Quarantine. Her first leading role came in 2010 as Ramona Quimby in Ramona and Beezus, adapted from Beverly Cleary’s books, a performance that won her a Young Artist Award.
More work followed in quick succession. She played Emma Stone’s younger sister in Crazy, Stupid, Love, appeared in The Dark Knight Rises and had a role in the Fargo television series. In 2013 she appeared in both The Conjuring and White House Down, two very different films that showed her comfort in horror and action alike.
The Kissing Booth and Global Recognition
The 2018 Netflix film The Kissing Booth changed the scale of King’s visibility. Starring as Elle Evans opposite Jacob Elordi and Joel Courtney, she became the face of a trilogy that Netflix has described as one of its consistently streamed series. Sequels arrived in 2020 and 2021. King has spoken warmly about the franchise’s audience even when others have been critical, saying she felt proud of the joy the films brought to viewers.
The Act and Award Nominations
In 2019 King took on the role of Gypsy Rose Blanchard in Hulu’s The Act, opposite Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee Blanchard. The series dramatised the events surrounding Blanchard’s case, and King has described the part as the most complicated of her career, requiring her to balance empathy with the discomfort of the story. Her performance earned nominations at the Primetime Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Critics’ Choice Awards. She has credited working with Arquette as a formative experience.
Action, Producing and Recent Work
King played a villain in the 2022 action comedy Bullet Train alongside Brad Pitt, and starred in The Princess that same year. In 2024 she appeared as a Holocaust survivor in the series We Were the Lucky Ones, starred opposite Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman in the romcom A Family Affair, and led the Netflix adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies as Tally.
Behind the camera, King founded the production company All the King’s Horses and signed deals with Hulu and Netflix, making her one of the youngest creatives to do so. The Kissing Booth sequels, The In Between, The Princess and Uglies have all been among her producing credits. In 2024 she received the Women In Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award.
Net Worth Estimates
Publicly available net worth figures for King are estimates, not verified financial disclosures. Some entertainment outlets have reported a figure of roughly $4 million, citing Celebrity Net Worth as their source. That figure should be treated as an unverified estimate rather than a documented fact. No reliable public source reviewed for this profile confirms her actual earnings, contracts or assets.
Personal Life and Public Profile
King has been public about her relationship with filmmaker Steven Piet, whom she married. She keeps much of her personal life private while remaining active on social media and in interviews. Her career choices in recent years suggest a deliberate effort to avoid being boxed into one genre, moving between streaming romance, prestige drama, action and young adult science fiction.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old was Joey King when she started acting?
She began acting at four years old, with an early commercial role.
What is Joey King best known for?
She is widely known for The Kissing Booth trilogy, The Act, Ramona and Beezus, The Conjuring, White House Down, Bullet Train and Uglies.
Did Joey King win any awards for The Act?
She received nominations at the Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG Awards and Critics’ Choice Awards for her performance, though she did not win the Emmy or Golden Globe for the role.
What is All the King’s Horses?
It is King’s production company, through which she has produced several of her own films and series.
What is Joey King’s net worth?
Public estimates have cited around $4 million, but this is an unverified figure reported by entertainment outlets and should not be treated as confirmed.
Featured image: Joey Gannon from Pittsburgh, PA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
