# Maia Mitchell
**Maia Mitchell** (born 1993) is an Australian actress, singer, and producer from Lismore, New South Wales, best known for playing Callie Adams Foster in the Freeform series *The Fosters* (2013–2018) and its spin-off *Good Trouble* (2019–2024), and for starring as McKenzie in the [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) *Teen Beach* movies.[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell) Since 2023 she has played Lady Belle Fox, an aspiring surgeon in 1850s Australia, in the Hulu series *The Artful Dodger*.[3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1993, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) |
| Signature role | Callie Adams Foster in *The Fosters* (104 episodes, 2013–2018) and *Good Trouble* (2019–2024), also executive producer on the spin-off[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/maia-mitchell/credits/3030658029/) |
| Disney Channel work | McKenzie in *Teen Beach Movie* (2013) and *Teen Beach 2* (2015); Shaylee Michaels in *Jessie* (2013–2014)[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/maia_mitchell) • [1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) |
| Australian start | Brittany Flune in *Mortified* (2006–2007); Natasha Hamilton in *Trapped* (2008–2009) and *Castaway* (2011)[6](https://www.mortified.edu.au/downloads/PressKit.pdf) • [1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) |
| Current series | Lady Belle Fox in *The Artful Dodger* (2023–present)[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell) |
| Music | Released the single "Magic" with Rudy Mancuso (2018); voiced Jasiri in *The Lion Guard* (2016–2019)[7](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621219745) • [8](https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) |
## Early life and Australian television
Mitchell was born in Lismore, New South Wales, to Alex and Jill Mitchell, and has a younger brother, Charlie. She learned guitar and singing at a young age and performed in school and local theater productions from childhood.[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2314596/bio/) In interviews she has described her parents as "giant hippies" and said she began her career at age 11.[3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/)
**First roles.** At 12 she auditioned for the Australian children's series *Mortified* ([Nine Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/nine-network), 2006–2007) and landed the lead role of Brittany Flune; the show's press kit credits her as "Maia McCall Mitchell". She followed it with series-regular roles as [Natasha Hamilton](https://www.edgepedia.org/natasha-hamilton) in *Trapped* ([Seven Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/seven-network), 2008–2009) and its sequel series *Castaway* (2011), and an episode of *K-9*, the *Doctor Who* spin-off.[6](https://www.mortified.edu.au/downloads/PressKit.pdf) • [1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2314596/bio/)
## Disney Channel and the move to the United States
At 18 Mitchell moved alone to Los Angeles to pursue acting in the United States.[3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/) Her US debut came on the Disney Channel series *Jessie* as pop star Shaylee Michaels, followed by the lead role of McKenzie ("Mack") in the Disney Channel Original Movie *Teen Beach Movie* (2013) and its sequel *Teen Beach 2* (2015).[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/maia_mitchell) She has described the *Teen Beach Movie* audition process as drawn out: she recorded self-tapes for Los Angeles, moved through Skype callbacks, and flew to America for the final round, landing the part despite jet lag on audition day.[10](https://www.justjaredjr.com/2013/09/04/maia-mitchell-talks-teen-beach-movie-audition-with-cosmo-australia/)
She also did voice work for Disney, playing [Wendy Darling](https://www.edgepedia.org/wendy-darling) in *Jake and the Never Land Pirates* (2014) and the hyena Jasiri in *The Lion Guard* from 2016 to 2019.[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) • [8](https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell) In a *Grazia* interview she called the cartoon voice work her most fun job, saying she got to "turn up in pyjamas and pretend to be a little Australian hyena".[11](https://graziamagazine.com/articles/interview-australian-actress-maia-mitchell/)
## The Fosters and Good Trouble
Mitchell's breakout television role was Callie Jacob, later Callie Adams Foster, in *The Fosters*, the Freeform family drama co-produced by [Jennifer Lopez](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-lopez) that aired from 2013 to 2018. The series follows Callie and her younger brother Jude ([Hayden Byerly](https://www.edgepedia.org/hayden-byerly)) after they are placed with Stef and Lena Adams Foster ([Teri Polo](https://www.edgepedia.org/teri-polo) and Sherri Saum), a lesbian couple raising biological, adopted, and foster children in San Diego.[12](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fosters-cast-grew-eyes-took-171904419.html) Mitchell appeared in 104 episodes across the show's five seasons.[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell)
She carried the role into *Good Trouble*, the spin-off following Callie and Mariana Adams Foster ([Cierra Ramirez](https://www.edgepedia.org/cierra-ramirez)) as young adults in Los Angeles, and also served as an executive producer on the series.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/maia-mitchell/credits/3030658029/) • [12](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fosters-cast-grew-eyes-took-171904419.html) In her goodbye post she counted the two shows together as "two shows, 156 episodes, and a chosen family for life" across nine years playing Callie.[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell)
**Exit from the role.** Mitchell left *Good Trouble* as a series regular at the end of season 4, with Callie written out as moving to Washington, D.C. to work as a lawyer for the ACLU; she returned for guest appearances in season 5, including the March 2024 series finale.[12](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fosters-cast-grew-eyes-took-171904419.html) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell) She attributed the decision to a long-held pull back to Australia, writing that she had "suppressed an undeniable gravitational pull to return home to Australia to be closer to my nearest and dearest".[1](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell)
## Film work
Mitchell's film career includes the comedy *Never Goin' Back* (2018), which premiered at the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival), where she told an SBS interviewer that appearing at Sundance had been her goal "since I was a kid".[13](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/maia-mitchell-australias-next-big-international-movie-sensation/t5haq4we1) Her other features include *Hot Summer Nights* (2017), *The Last Summer* (2019), *No Way Out* (2022), on which she was also an executive producer, and *Sitting in Bars with Cake* (2023), in which she played Liz opposite [Yara Shahidi](https://www.edgepedia.org/yara-shahidi) and [Bette Midler](https://www.edgepedia.org/bette-midler).[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/maia_mitchell) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/maia-mitchell/credits/3030658029/) • [3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/) She later appeared in the 2025 film adaptation *Until Dawn* as Melanie.[14](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/505731/filmo/)
## The Artful Dodger and return to Australia
After leaving *Good Trouble*, Mitchell took a year off work to decompress, having returned to live on an isolated property in northern [New South Wales](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-south-wales) after nearly a decade in the United States. She resumed working in 2022 with *Sitting in Bars with Cake*, then took the role of Lady Belle Fox in *The Artful Dodger*, a series based on the *Oliver Twist* character, filmed in Sydney and set in 1850s Australia, opposite [Thomas Brodie-Sangster](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-brodie-sangster), David Thewlis, Tim Minchin, and [Susie Porter](https://www.edgepedia.org/susie-porter).[3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/) Lady Belle, a self-trained scientist who aspires to be the first female surgeon in the colony, became her first major period role; Mitchell has said the character's forthrightness and sense of social justice initially intimidated her.[3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/) She has continued in the role through the show's later seasons.[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell)
## Music and public profile
Mitchell writes songs and plays guitar, and has described music as a personal pursuit rather than a career goal; she released the single "Magic" with Rudy Mancuso in 2018.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2314596/bio/) • [7](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621219745) She has said she works deliberately to keep her Australian accent despite years of playing American characters.[10](https://www.justjaredjr.com/2013/09/04/maia-mitchell-talks-teen-beach-movie-audition-with-cosmo-australia/) *ELLE Australia* reported in 2024 that she had amassed more than 10 million Instagram followers while largely staying out of the tabloid spotlight.[3](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/)
## References
1. [Maia Mitchell, Good Trouble Wiki](https://goodtrouble.fandom.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell)
2. [Maia Mitchell, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/33672/maia-mitchell)
3. [Mad About Maia Mitchell, ELLE Australia (March 2024)](https://www.elle.com.au/culture/maia-mitchell-elle-australia-interview/)
4. [Maia Mitchell List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/maia-mitchell/credits/3030658029/)
5. [Maia Mitchell Movies & TV Shows, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/maia_mitchell)
6. [Mortified press kit, Australian Children's Television Foundation](https://www.mortified.edu.au/downloads/PressKit.pdf)
7. [Maia Mitchell, Apple Snapshot](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621219745)
8. [Maia Mitchell Facts for Kids, KidzSearch](https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Maia_Mitchell)
9. [Maia Mitchell Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2314596/bio/)
10. [Maia Mitchell Talks 'Teen Beach Movie' Audition with Cosmo Australia, Just Jared Jr.](https://www.justjaredjr.com/2013/09/04/maia-mitchell-talks-teen-beach-movie-audition-with-cosmo-australia/)
11. [Me, My Selfie & I: Aussie actress and new Bonds face Maia Mitchell, Grazia](https://graziamagazine.com/articles/interview-australian-actress-maia-mitchell/)
12. ['The Fosters' Cast Grew Up Before Our Eyes as They Took on 'Good Trouble', Us Weekly via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fosters-cast-grew-eyes-took-171904419.html)
13. [Maia Mitchell: Australia's next big international movie sensation, SBS (2018)](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/maia-mitchell-australias-next-big-international-movie-sensation/t5haq4we1)
14. [Filmografie von Maia Mitchell, FILMSTARTS.de](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/505731/filmo/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Australian actors › Surnames L to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license