{{short description|American actress (born 1998)}} {{Infobox person | name = Helena Howard | image = | caption = Howard at an event in 2019 | birth_name = Kaitlyn Helena Howard | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1998|07|23}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | alma_mater = | occupation = Actress | years_active = 2014–present | awards = }}
'''Kaitlyn Helena Howard''' (born July 23, 1998) is an American actress. After being discovered by director Josephine Decker at age 15, she made her film debut in the drama film ''Madeline's Madeline'' (2018), which ''IndieWire'' named as one of the 50 best performances of the 2010s<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-acting-movies-2010s-performances/|title=The 50 Best Movie Performances of the Decade|last1=Zilko|first1=David Ehrlich,Kate Erbland,Eric Kohn,Anne Thompson,Chris O'Falt,Tambay Obenson,Christian Blauvelt,Christian|last2=Ehrlich|first2=David|date=2019-07-23|website=IndieWire|language=en|access-date=2019-08-31|last3=Erbland|first3=Kate|last4=Kohn|first4=Eric|last5=Thompson|first5=Anne|last6=O'Falt|first6=Chris|last7=Obenson|first7=Tambay|last8=Blauvelt|first8=Christian|last9=Zilko|first9=Christian}}</ref> and ''The New Yorker'' listed as the second-best film performance of the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-best-movie-performances-of-the-century-so-far|title=The Best Movie Performances of the Century So Far|last1=Brody|first1=Richard|date=2021-03-06|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en|access-date=2021-03-09}}</ref>
==Early life== Howard was born on July 23, 1998, in New York City, New York.<ref>{{cite web|title=Helena Howard on Instagram|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BINmXD5Aibw/|website=Instagram|accessdate=November 1, 2018|date=July 23, 2016}}</ref> Her parents, both artists, are Julia Binet and Will Howard. Her mother is of Scandinavian and Eastern European descent, and her father is African American of mixed descent. She has a younger brother, Liam. Howard grew up in the New Jersey area,<ref>{{cite web|last=Alemoru|first=Kemi|title=Helena Howard|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/article/39841/1/helena-howard-actor-biography-dazed-100-2018-profile|website=Dazed|date=24 April 2018 |accessdate=November 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Helena Howard – Message in a Model|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsP3BPGJbbY|website=YouTube|accessdate=November 1, 2018}}</ref> and attended the Union County Academy for Performing Arts.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bramesco|first=Charles|title=Helena Howard Is Going to Be a Star|url=http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/helena-howard-q-and-a.html|website=Vulture|accessdate=November 1, 2018|date=August 6, 2018}}</ref>
==Career== After she was discovered by Josephine Decker in 2014 at the Union County Teen Arts Festival, where Decker was a judge, Howard starred in her critically acclaimed feature film ''Madeline's Madeline.'' This was Howard's screen debut and she played the titular role.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/helena-howard-q-and-a.html|title=Helena Howard Is Going to Be a Star|last=Bramesco|first=Charles|date=August 6, 2018|website=Vulture|accessdate=November 1, 2018}}</ref>
Howard was a participant in the festival, and recited a monologue from David Harrower's ''Blackbird''. When she finished, Decker said of Howard's performance that it was "the best she had seen" in her life, and they both started crying. Decker and Howard exchanged some information after the show ended and met up a month or so later; Howard ultimately helped develop the story of the film through several improvisation workshops with Decker and others.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ongley|first=Hannah|title=meet helena howard, breakout star of 'madeline's madeline'|url=https://i-d.co/article/madelines-madeline-helena-howard-film-interview/|website=i-D|access-date=November 1, 2018|date=August 10, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Riess|first=Jeannie|title=Helena Howard and Josephine Decker Trek to Storm King|magazine=The New Yorker|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/20/helena-howard-and-josephine-decker-trek-to-storm-king|access-date=November 1, 2018|date=August 20, 2018}}</ref>
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018. It was released on August 10, 2018, by Oscilloscope Laboratories. It received critical acclaim, particularly for Howard's performance, which ''IndieWire'' named one of the 50 best performances of the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebiri |first=Bilge |date=January 28, 2018 |title="Madeline's Madeline": The Best Film I Saw at Sundance |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/01/28/madelines-madeline-the-best-film-i-saw-at-sundance/ |newspaper=The Village Voice |access-date=July 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131183137/https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/01/28/madelines-madeline-the-best-film-i-saw-at-sundance/ |archive-date=January 31, 2018 |url-status=dead }} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/866765606 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/865189094 cite #3 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}</ref>
Howard's next role was in the short film ''Twist'', which had its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firsthuntfilms.com/twist|title=TWIST - Short Film|website=First Hunt Films|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-31|archive-date=2019-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831182722/https://www.firsthuntfilms.com/twist|url-status=dead}}</ref> She stars as Nora Reid in Amazon's ''The Wilds''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Porter |first=Rick |date=July 31, 2018 |title=Amazon Pilot 'The Wilds' Cast Its First 4 Castaways (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/amazons-wilds-pilot-casts-reign-edwards-3-more-1130884 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |accessdate=November 1, 2018}}</ref> Howard also appeared as Cleo in the film ''Shoplifters of the World.''<ref>{{cite web|title=Hollywood comes to Colonie to film 'Shoplifters of the World' (w/slideshow) |url=https://www.spotlightnews.com/towns/colonie/2018/11/19/hollywood-comes-to-colonie-to-film-shoplifters-of-the-world-w-slideshow/|website=SpotlightNews.com|date=19 November 2018 |accessdate=January 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Helena Howard on Instagram|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqgd1M5lY4f/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/Bqgd1M5lY4f |archive-date=2021-12-26 |url-access=registration|website=Instagram|accessdate=January 1, 2019|date=November 23, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
==Filmography==
===Film and television=== <!--DO NOT add rowspans to this table per WP:FILMOGRAPHY--> {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Key | style="background:#ffc;"| {{dagger|alt=Films that have not yet been released}} | Denotes films that have not yet been released |} {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |- ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Director ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2018 ! scope="row"| ''Madeline's Madeline'' | Madeline | Josephine Decker | |- | 2019 ! scope="row" | ''Twist'' | Hannah | Aly Migliori | Short film |- | 2020–2022 ! scope="row" | ''The Wilds'' | Nora Reid | Various | TV series |- | 2020 ! scope="row" | ''Don't Look Deeper'' | Aisha | Catherine Hardwicke | TV series |- | 2021 ! scope="row" | ''Shoplifters of the World'' | Cleo | Stephen Kijak | |- | 2024 ! scope="row" | ''I Saw the TV Glow'' | Isabel | Jane Schoenbrun | <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/justice-smith-brigette-lundy-paine-a24-i-saw-the-tv-glow-1235205246/|title=Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine Starring in A24 Horror Thriller 'I Saw the TV Glow' (Exclusive)|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Borys|last=Kit|date=August 24, 2022|access-date=August 27, 2022}}</ref> |- | 2025 ! scope="row" | ''Find Your Friends'' | Amber | Izabel Pakzad | |- | 2026 ! scope="row" | ''The Accompanist'' | Wanda | Zach Woods | Post-production |} <!-- Per WP:NFF and WP:CRYSTAL, do not add films that are listed as "pre-production" -->
== Awards and nominations ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Work ! Result ! Reference |- |rowspan="2"|2018 | Gotham Awards | Breakthrough Actor |rowspan="2"|''Madeline's Madeline'' |{{nom}} |<ref>{{cite web|last=Mandinach|first=Zach|title=Nominations Announced for the 28th Annual IFP Gotham Awards|url=http://www.ifp.org/press/nominations-announced-for-the-28th-annual-ifp-gotham-awards/|website=IFP|accessdate=November 1, 2018|date=October 18, 2018|archive-date=November 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129061907/http://www.ifp.org/press/nominations-announced-for-the-28th-annual-ifp-gotham-awards/|url-status=dead}}</ref> |- | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Female Lead |{{Nominated}} |<ref>{{cite web|last=Warren|first=Matt|title=These Are Your 2019 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominees!|url=https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/these-are-your-2019-film-independent-spirit-award-nominees/|website=Film Independent|accessdate=November 17, 2018|date=November 16, 2018}}</ref> |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Helena}} Category:1998 births Category:21st-century American actresses Category:Actresses from New York City Category:American film actresses Category:Living people Category:21st-century African-American actresses