Hala Finley
Born (2009-05-18) May 18, 2009 (age 14)[1][2]
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.[1][2]
OccupationActress
Years active2013–present

Hala Finley (born May 18, 2009) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in Man with a Plan (2016–2020) as Emme Burns and in We Can Be Heroes (2020) as Ojo.

Early life

Finley was born on May 18, 2009, in Kansas City, Missouri where she was raised. She has an older brother. As a child, Finley danced and played sports. She wanted to be an actress after she watched her brother prepare for auditions.[1][2]

Career

Finley began her career by appearing in print and TV commercials. At the age of four, Finley played her first role as twins in Counter Parts. In 2015, she played the lead role in Grammy.[1][2] Gruesome Magazine said she was "adorable".[3] In 2016, at the age of seven, Finley appeared in Man with a Plan as Emme Burns, the youngest of Adam Burns's (Matt LeBlanc) children.[4] In 2018, she played Jody Altmyer in Back Roads, for which she received a positive review. Nerdy Babble said she was "most surprising part of this entire experience", saying "she blew my expectations out of the water. ... [She was] adorable and endlessly endearing."[5] In February 2020, Finley was cast in Mandalay Pictures's Shelter.[6]

In September 2021, Finley joined Ben Affleck and Alice Braga in action-thriller film Hypnotic, reuniting with director Robert Rodriguez.[7]

In 2022, she starred in Paradise Highway, which centers around human trafficking. Finley portrays Leila, who is trafficked in an attempt to save another character. The A.V. Club praised her performance, stating: "Finley eschews cuteness as much as possible, playing Leila almost as feral at the beginning—a writhing mass of gutteral screams and uncontrolled bodily functions, designed to be as distasteful as possible to would-be kidnappers."[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Counter Parts Twins Short film
2015 Grammy Child Short film
2017 Letters from a Father Young Marie Short film[1]
2018 Back Roads Jody Altmyer
2020 Bobblehead: The Movie Audrey (voice)
2020 We Can Be Heroes Ojo
2022 Unplugging Elizabeth "Blizzard" Dewerson
2022 Paradise Highway Leila
2023 Hypnotic Minnie

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2016–2020 Man with a Plan Emme Burns Main role; 69 episodes
2018 American Housewife Harriet Episode: "Highs and Lows"[9]
2019 Teachers Delia Episode: "The Tell-Tale Cart"
2022 Magnum P.I. Ella Vaughn Episode: "Shallow Grave, Deep Water"

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Hala Finley - Man With A Plan Cast Member". CBS. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Hala Finley". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Perry, Joseph (May 21, 2016). ""Grammy" (2015): A Little Girl Learns the Hard Way That Grandmother Knows Best". Gruesome Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Adams, Erik (October 21, 2016). "Best-laid plans of CBS and men go awry for Matt LeBlanc, okay for Joel McHale". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  5. ^ "Back Roads Book VS Movie". Nerdy Babble. Retrieved February 24, 2021.[dead link]
  6. ^ Grater, Tom; Wiseman, Andreas (February 25, 2020). "Melissa Leo & Zazie Beetz To Star In 'Shelter' For Mandalay Pictures & Exec Producer Sam Rockwell". Deadline. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  7. ^ "'Hypnotic': Hala Finley Joins Ben Affleck & Alice Braga In Robert Rodriguez & Solstice Action-Thriller, Cameras Roll This Month In Texas". Deadline Hollywood. September 17, 2021.
  8. ^ "Paradise Highway charts a familiar route". The A.V. Club. July 27, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  9. ^ Robinson, Jacob (December 5, 2020). "'We Can Be Heroes' Netflix Release Date Moved to Christmas Day". What's on Netflix. Retrieved February 24, 2021.

External links

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