Joey King biography, height, husband, age, net worth 2025

Joey King's Biography

Joey King is an American actress, singer, and model who began her career at a young age. She gained popularity after the release of "Ramona and Beezus," where she played one of the main characters, the spirited Ramona Quimby. She also played the leading role in the romantic trilogy "The Kissing Booth."

Childhood and Family

Joey Lynn King was born on July 30, 1999, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Terry and Jamie King, raised their children in an interfaith household, blending their Christian and Jewish backgrounds.

Joey's father was an arm wrestling champion in his youth, even sought advice from the famous Hollywood "muscleman" Sylvester Stallone.

Joey King as a child with her sisters (in the middle)

Joey has older sisters, Kelli (born in 1992) and Hunter (born in 1993), both of whom also became actresses. Joey believes the sisters inherited their acting talent from their grandmother, theater actress Elaine Farrar. Joey was named after her grandfather, Joseph.

Movies and Television

Joey King began her acting career as a child, despite her parents having no particular expectations of an acting career for her. At the age of four, she appeared in a breakfast cereal commercial, and over the next two years, she featured in around a hundred commercials.

Joey King in a breakfast cereal commercial

Her film debut came in 2006 with the release of the short film "Grace" and several episodes of the series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," where the young actress met her teenage idols, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, which felt like a dream come true.

Joey King in the series 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'

During the filming of "Grace," Joey nearly drowned in icy water. Despite the scary situation, this experience made her fall in love with cinema and sealed her decision to become an actress.

Her early screen appearances were small but memorable, letting her make an impression on audiences while working alongside established stars. For example, Joey's partner in "Ghost Whisperer" was Jennifer Love Hewitt, in "Medium" it was Patricia Arquette, and in her first feature film, the drama "Reign Over Me," she acted alongside Adam Sandler (unfortunately, all her scenes were cut during editing).

Her breakthrough with major directors came after the heartwarming family comedy "Ramona and Beezus" (2010), where young Joey appeared alongside Selena Gomez. They played contrasting sisters – the older Beezus navigating her first crush, while the younger Ramona, bursting with imagination and energy, was constantly in motion. The role of Ramona earned Joey King the Young Artist Award.

Joey King and Selena Gomez in 'Ramona and Beezus'

The following year, Joey starred in the series "Bent" as 8-year-old Charlie, daughter of determined single mom Alex (Amanda Peet), whose husband had just been sent to prison.

She quickly found herself working with Hollywood heavyweights. This includes Christopher Nolan, who Joey called "incredibly detail-oriented" after he had her shave her head for "The Dark Knight Rises." Also among them are Sam Raimi, who was extremely patient with Joey during the filming of "Oz the Great and Powerful," and Roland Emmerich, the creator of the blockbuster "White House Down" (King played the daughter of Channing Tatum's character).

King also works in voice acting: this includes the cartoons "Horton Hears a Who!" (2008) with Jim Carrey, and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (2009) with Queen Latifah and Ray Romano.

In 2014, she appeared in the series "Fargo." Viewers saw her as Greta Grimly, the daughter of police officer Gus, who investigates a series of strange events in the small town of Fargo.

The same year, she worked with two actor-directors – Zach Braff and James Franco. She appeared in Braff's family comedy "Wish I Was Here," where she got the role of the main character's daughter, played by Braff himself. In Franco's adaptation of William Faulkner's classic novel "The Sound and the Fury," she portrayed the young wife of one of the Compson brothers.

Joey King and Zach Braff on the set of 'Wish I Was Here'

In 2016, Joey King reunited with Braff, this time in the comedy "Going in Style," where the main roles were played by Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.

In early 2018, the actress was everywhere promoting Netflix's "The Kissing Booth," hitting up talk shows and press conferences. In this sweet romantic comedy, she became high school student Elle Evans, who'd never had a boyfriend. She sets up a charity "kissing booth" at school and ends up kissing Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi), her best friend Lee's older brother. But there's one rule in her friendship with Lee: his brother is totally off-limits. Elle must choose between friendship and first love.

The Kissing Booth - Noah and Elle's First Kiss

The film became one of Netflix's biggest teen rom-com hits, quickly earning a sequel. In the 2020 sequel, Elle's now a senior. Noah is at Harvard, and the couple tries to maintain a long-distance relationship. Enter the classic love triangle when Marco (Taylor Perez), the new guy at school, starts pursuing Elle. Meanwhile, she's torn between colleges: Harvard where Noah is, or Berkeley where she and Lee always planned to go together.

Joey King and Jacob Elordi at 'The Kissing Booth' premiere

The trilogy wrapped up in 2021 with Elle's final summer before college. She's hanging out at the Flynn family beach house, trying to soak up those last carefree days. She must make a final choice between Berkeley and Harvard.

Beyond the hit rom-com franchise, the actress has tackled different genres: from big-budget films like James Franco's "Zeroville" with Seth Rogen, to the action thriller "Bullet Train" where she had a supporting role, and unfortunately the horror flop "Slender Man," where Joey took on a major part.

One of King's most important career projects is the crime series "The Act," based on true events, where she starred alongside Patricia Arquette. The psychologically intense story follows a twisted mother-daughter relationship: the mother suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy and convinces her perfectly healthy daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard that she's terminally ill. Gypsy believes she suffers from multiple illnesses – from leukemia to muscular dystrophy – and gets around exclusively in a wheelchair. Everything changes when an online friend opens her eyes to the truth.

Joey King in the series 'The Act' and the real Gypsy Rose Blanchard

Joey prepared extensively for the role: she watched videos of the real Gypsy, studying her speech and movements, met her in person, lost a lot of weight, and shaved her head. Each filming day, she spent four hours in the makeup chair and stayed in character even after wrapping. "This was my most challenging role. I felt enormous responsibility because I was portraying a real person with such a tragic story," Joey recalls. The role of Gypsy earned her nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Other Projects

King doesn't limit herself to working in the film industry. She first tried breaking into music in 2010 when Joey and her sister recorded the song "Ramona Blue." A year later, she released the solo single "Anything at All" and landed a role in Taylor Swift's "Mean" music video.

Joey King in Taylor Swift's Mean Video

Joey knows how important publicity is for a successful acting career, so she's built a presence across all major social media platforms. She tried building her YouTube channel as a content creator for a while but eventually gave it up. She still stays active on social media though, where she's built up almost 3 million followers.

Following her grandmother's example, the actress has been involved in charity work from a young age. For example, she delivers food to elderly people who can't get out on their own.

In 2023, Joey appeared in another Taylor Swift music video, this time for the song "I Can See You."

Taylor Swift – I Can See You

Joey King's Personal Life

In 2017, Joey started dating the young Australian actor Jacob Elordi, with whom she co-starred in the romantic comedy "The Kissing Booth". She called working with her boyfriend an indescribable experience.

Joey King and her boyfriend Jacob Elordi

But they broke up in 2018, so during filming of the sequel and threequel, King had to keep her personal and professional lives separate. "It was a wild experience, but honestly, it was truly a wonderful time because I learned a lot about myself and grew as an actress and a person," she later said.

Why Joey King Won't Date Another Co-Star After Jacob Elordi

The series "The Act," which began filming in 2018, didn't just help Joey establish herself as a talented dramatic actress—it also brought her new love. Her partner, Steven Piet, was the executive producer of the project. Their relationship went public in November 2019, and in February 2022, Piet proposed to the actress—which she happily accepted. In August 2023, the couple got married.

Joey is left-handed.

Joey King Now

In 2024, Joey King tackled several major projects. Among them is the Hulu miniseries "We Were The Lucky Ones," adapted from Georgia Hunter's novel based on true events about a Jewish family's story during World War II. Joey King plays one of the main roles, Halina Kurc.

Joey King in the series 'We Were The Lucky Ones'

The summer saw the premiere of the romcom "A Family Affair," where Joey starred alongside Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron.

Another notable project is the sci-fi action film "Uglies," based on Scott Westerfeld's dystopia under Netflix's banner. The story takes place in a world where all teenagers must undergo mandatory surgery at 16 to become "pretty." Joey King plays the main role as Tally Youngblood, a girl who begins to realize that beauty isn't the most important thing in a person.

Joey King: latest news and articles

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Alberto Young

I saw Joey in many movies and TV series but normally only episodic, didn`t see her in a serious projects. But she still young and got a feature.

2021-05-03 13:05:48
William Brown

Before I was thinking she is a daughter of King lol. But they are just a namesake. All these listed movies I guess I didn`t watch.

2021-04-12 13:22:34
Melanie Evans

I really liked how she played in The Kissing Booth. I`ve got a very romantic mood after that :))

2021-04-09 18:21:00
Michelle Sharp

I never hear about this actress but according to her roles she is mostly playing like a background actress.

2021-04-04 12:23:04
Jeremiah Chase Baker

I always liked Joey because of her immediacy and expressive facial features :) she is growing confidently as an actress :) soon she could have a main role I think

2021-03-28 16:18:03

Photos: Joey King