Childhood & Early Life
Charlotte McKinney was born on August 6, 1993, in Orlando. Florida. Not much is known about her parents, but it is known that her mother is Canadian.
She has an older sister named Garland. She attended ‘William R Boone High School’ in Orlando, where she was often bullied by her peers because of her curvy body.
Even during her interviews, Charlotte tries to not talk about her childhood memories, since bullying affected her studies and education a lot. She once recalled an incident when girls at a party, out of jealousy, poured beer on her head.
She admitted that she did not have any girlfriends and only had male friends. Girls were often jealous of her and mocked her due to her voluptuous frame.
Charlotte also suffered from dyslexia. Hence, in her early school days, she was mocked more for not being able to read like a normal child.
This forced her to drop out of high school at the age of 17. She could not continue due to the mockery and moved to Miami to focus on modeling instead.
Continue Reading Below
Career
Social media became a blessing for Charlotte when she started posting her pictures on ‘Instagram.’ Her face soon became quite popular on social media and led her to start modeling for various brands.
Charlotte initially tried finding success in modeling by applying to various media agencies, but the plan did not work out. This led her to open her own ‘Instagram’ profile, which earned her success and even got her featured in ‘Esquire’ magazine.
She devotes a lot of time to social media but does not like being called “Insta-famous,” as she believes she has worked hard outside social media, too. She is best known for being part of a campaign for American brand ‘GUESS.’
She was signed by New York-based modeling agency ‘Wilhelmina Models.’ She was soon featured in ‘Carl's Jr.'s ‘All Natural Burger’ commercial.
The commercial was aired in 2015, during ‘Super Bowl XLIX,’ and was a success. More than 111 million people watched the commercial.
Due to this commercial, she is now often called the “new Kate Upton.” This is because Kate, too, rose to fame via her first ‘Super Bowl’ commercial.
Apart from being a successful model, Charlotte has also appeared in a number of films and TV series. She made her acting debut in 2006, in an episode of TV show ‘Doctors,’ which featured her as ‘Jenny Nibbs.’
She made her film debut in 2007, with a short film titled ‘The Diary of Tommy Crisp.’ She played ‘Chianti’ in the film.
After a gap of a few years, she was seen in a video short titled ‘Thresholds’ in 2010. She was next seen in the comedy film ‘Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser’ (2015) that starred David Spade.
Continue Reading Below
The film featured her as ‘Missy.’ In 2015, Charlotte appeared on the popular American dance show ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ She was part of the show’s 20th season, with Keoikantse Motsepe as her partner.
They were the second couple to be eliminated from the show and finished at the 11th spot. The same year, she made an appearance as ‘Bridewell Nurse’ in the ‘BBC’ drama ‘Doctor Foster.’
She also appeared in her first music video that year. It was for a song titled ‘Punching Bag’ by Akillezz. She appeared in another video, ‘Might Not’ by Belly, featuring ‘The Weeknd.’
In 2016, she appeared in an episode of ‘Lip Sync Battle’ as herself. She also made a cameo in the film ‘The Late Bloomer’ the same year.
She then appeared in her next music video: ‘I’m Not the One’ by Pete Yorn. The same year, she appeared in the music video ‘Body Moves’ by ‘DNCE.’
She made several film appearances in 2017, taking her career to a new high. She appeared as ‘Charlotte’ in the comedy film ‘Literally, Right Before Aaron’ that also starred Justin Long and John Cho.
She got an opportunity to appear as ‘Julia’ in ‘Baywatch’ (2017), starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, and Priyanka Chopra. This was the biggest movie of Charlotte’s rising career.
She had a cameo appearance as a girl on a bicycle in the Nina Dobrev-starrer ‘Flatliners,’
She then appeared in Charlie Sheen’s ‘Mad Families.’ She played ‘Sharni’ in the comedy.
Continue Reading Below
The same year, she appeared in a TV series titled ‘Growth.’ She played a character named ‘Tiffany’ in an episode of the show titled ‘Hot Yoga.’
In 2018, she appeared in an episode of the action-adventure TV series ‘MacGyver,’ in which she played ‘Mia.’ She appeared as ‘Julie’ in the crime-drama film ‘First We Take Brooklyn.’
She is set to appear in an upcoming supernatural horror film titled ’Fantasy Island.’ The film is scheduled to be released in 2020.
