Maika Monroe biography, boyfriend, relationships, height, age 2025

Biography of Maika Monroe

Maika Monroe is a young American actress who exploded onto the global film scene with her breakout role in the horror hit "It Follows" in 2014. She quickly earned the title of Hollywood's new "scream queen," starring in horror films like "Watcher," "Tau," "Villains," and "Longlegs." Beyond acting, she's also a professional kitesurfer.

Childhood

Maika Monroe (born Dillon Monroe Buckley) was born in Santa Barbara on May 29, 1993. Her mother is a sign language interpreter and her father is a construction worker.

She became Maika at age 7 after asking her mom, "What was the other name option for me?" When her mom replied "Maika," she loved it so much that she told neighbors and teachers she'd only answer to that name from then on.

The California coast is perfect for active recreation and sports. Instead of the more typical surfing, the future actress chose a different direction – kitesurfing. This sport also involves riding waves, but it's more challenging: the athlete stands on a board and moves using a kite.

Maika completed school online because she moved to the Dominican Republic, where she had the best conditions for training. There, she started participating in major tournaments and even made it to the podium several times.

Acting Career

Maika didn't want to stop at her sports career. After considering medicine, design, and working with animals, she ultimately chose cinema. Even in school, she was active in drama club and showed real talent.

Maika Monroe on Her Journey to Acting

Monroe's official debut came with the drama "Labor Day" (2013), where the main roles were played by Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. The film tells the story of the complex relationships between a single mother and an escaped convict and the circumstances that hinder their happiness. Maika played Brolin's character's wife in her youth.

Before breaking through, the rising actress had already appeared on screen, but only in small roles. One such project in her filmography is "At Any Price," where Monroe played the girlfriend of racer Dean, played by Zac Efron.

Maika Monroe chooses projects less for their box office potential than for the appeal of the script and the character she'll portray. In Maika's filmography, the modest dramatic thriller "The Guest" (2013) sits comfortably alongside the much more successful atmospheric slow-burner "It Follows" (2014), which screened at Cannes and was hailed as one of that year's best horror films.

Monroe started being called the new "scream queen." She loved horror films herself – her father was a huge fan who passed his passion on to his daughter. Though initially, the actress felt uncomfortable in the horror genre, as she candidly revealed in a 2015 interview:

I didn't realize how hard it is to shoot a horror film. The daily screams, running, and crying were emotionally and physically exhausting.

The teen dystopia "The 5th Wave" (2016) and the sequel to the popular '90s sci-fi film "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016) show that Monroe can handle any genre. Her role in the major project "Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House" (2017) with top stars Liam Neeson and Diane Lane further showcased the young actress's skill and ability to handle increased pressure.

Maika Monroe Interview: Making Longlegs & It Follows 2 Details

In 2017, the youth melodrama "Hot Summer Nights" premiered in the US, where Monroe's partner on set was Timothée Chalamet. The actors played modern-day Romeo and Juliet, whose love is threatened by the surrounding criminal world.

Hot Summer Nights - Kiss Scene (Maika Monroe and Timothee Chalamet)

The actress received more and more film offers and always approached their selection seriously, staying true to independent cinema:

Studio films have their advantages and a lot of good things going for them, but I think I want to keep loving my work. This is my way of staying in love with this art form – working with people who truly inspire me and being part of the process. And the world of independent cinema, I'm just so drawn to it, it pushes me and challenges me.

In 2018, the drama "After Everything" appeared on screens, where Maika's colleagues were Jeremy Allen White and Marisa Tomei. That same year, the actress played leading roles in the sci-fi drama "Bokeh," the thriller about the triumph of artificial intelligence "Tau," and the heart-wrenching drama "I'm Not Here."

In 2019, she could be seen in "Honey Boy," a biopic about the early years of Shia LaBeouf, who also played the lead role. Alongside Bill Skarsgård, Maika starred in the comedy horror "Villains."

Together with Dylan O'Brien, Monroe starred in the sci-fi drama "The Education of Fredrick Fitzell" (2019), and with Joel Kinnaman in the action film "Brothers by Blood" (2020).

One of the most talked-about horror films of 2022 was "Watcher" featuring Maika Monroe. The film blends psychological thriller and drama elements in a way that had viewers drawing comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock's work, exploring themes of social isolation, loneliness in a foreign country, and escalating paranoia. Maika's character is convinced that the man in the house across the street is a serial killer, but her attempts to expose him only make things worse.

Personal Life of Maika Monroe

On the set of "The 5th Wave," the actress became friends with Chloë Grace Moretz, and they hang out whenever their busy schedules allow.

Maika Monroe is friends with Chloë Grace Moretz

Maika keeps her personal life out of the spotlight though. One exception was her relationship with Joe Keery (star of the series "Stranger Things"): they dated from 2017 to 2022. The couple attended all official events together and were often photographed by paparazzi.

Their last public appearance together was March 27, 2022, with Keery later describing the breakup as tough.

In October 2023, Maika was seen kissing realtor Dalton Gomez, the ex-boyfriend of Ariana Grande. The pair made their relationship official in summer 2024.

Maika Monroe Now

In 2024, the horror film "Longlegs" was released, starring Maika Monroe. She plays FBI agent Lee Harker, a young woman with extraordinary abilities who joins a team tracking a killer that somehow drives entire families to madness. The only clues are cryptic notes left at crime scenes, all signed with one name: Longlegs.

For the actress, this was an interesting experience, resonating with many of her interests:

...As a child, I watched a lot of true crime and thrillers. When I turned on 'The Silence of the Lambs,' I was fascinated by FBI agents, crime scenes, and killers. So playing such a character was something incredible. By the way, I never wanted to be an investigator myself. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a paramedic, but I was turned off by the sight of blood, so I gave up on that idea.