Katy O'Brian

Katy O'Brian
Katy O'Brian
	O'Brian in 2024
Born	February 12, 1989 (age 35); Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Education	Indiana University Bloomington (BA)
Occupations	Actress; martial artist;
Years active	2010–present
Spouse	Kylie Chi (m. 2020)
Website	katyobrian.com

Katy M. O'Brian^[1] (born February 12, 1989) is an American actress and martial artist. She is best known for her roles as bodybuilder Jackie in Love Lies Bleeding, Imperial communications officer Elia Kane in the second and third seasons of The Mandalorian, George in Syfy's zombie show Z Nation,^[2] Major Sara Grey in The CW's superhero series Black Lightning, Kimball in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Jentorra in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Early life

O'Brian was born on February 12, 1989, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has three older brothers. She is of mixed ethnicity, with African-American and European-American ancestry.^[3] O'Brian began studying martial arts at five years old, and at age nine earned her brown belt in Shorei Goju Ryu Karate.^[4] Throughout her youth, she participated in numerous sports programs and also in music programs as a percussionist.^[5]

She attended Indiana University Bloomington, majoring in psychology and Germanic studies.^[6] She was one of the first members of the university's short-form improv troupe Hoosonfirst. She received law enforcement certification through the university's Cadet Officer Program. At university, she received her black belt in hapkido through the US Hapkido Federation.^[7]

After graduation, she was a police officer for seven years at the Carmel Police Department in Carmel, Indiana, including the department's Crisis Intervention Team, which specialized in helping individuals with various conditions such as psychosis, depression, Alzheimer's, autism, etc.^[8] She obtained her personal trainer certification and began competing in bodybuilding figure competitions,^[9] and began training at the Indy Actors Academy.^[10] She competed twice in figure, in September 2014 and May 2015, but stopped because of the expense and because she did not want to take steroids like some other competitors.^[11]

In 2016, O'Brian moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. While waiting to land a role, she worked with the University of California, Los Angeles Martial Arts Program, helping with self-defense classes and instructing the Hapkido program. Through the same program she also studied Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.^[8]

Career

O'Brian's first television role was as a Savior named Katy on AMC's The Walking Dead,^[12] followed by roles on Halt and Catch Fire, Tosh.0 and How to Get Away with Murder.^{[episode needed]}

In 2018, O'Brian booked her first regular role on the comedy action series Z Nation where she played George, a budding leader of the apocalypse. In 2019, she appeared in the CW series Black Lightning as an ASA antagonist, Major Sara Grey. She appeared in season 3 of HBO's Westworld.

In 2020, O'Brian was cast as Elia Kane, a key recurring character in Seasons 2 and 3 of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian.^[13]

She had been featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: in 2020 as Kimball in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; and in 2023, in a leading role as Jentorra, leader of the Freedom Fighters in the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.^[13] She is one of the few actors who has appeared in both the Star Wars and Marvel franchises.^[14]

In 2022, it was announced that O'Brian would star opposite Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding, her first major film role.^[15] The film was released theatrically by A24 on March 8, 2024.^[16]

Personal life

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 2016, O'Brian met her partner, Kylie Chi, on a student film project set. The couple live together in Los Angeles and married in July 2020.^[17]

She has Crohn's disease and underwent bowel surgery after shooting Love Lies Bleeding.^[18]

Filmography

Film

Film work by Katy O'Brian
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Student Seven	SIG Raider
2015	Submerge: Ni're Reborn	E'lan	Short film
	Finders Keepers	Girl	Short film
	Remedy of a Killer	Nancy	Short film
2016	Richard Watson Files	Emma Simms	Short film
2019	Rain	TV News Reporter	Short film
	Power Rangers: Zenith	Aisha
	Gnawbone	Lisa
	Fantasy	Kelly
	The Divisible	Kira	Short film
2020	Sidewinder	Deputy Harris	Short film
2021	Sweet Girl	TV Host
2023	Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	Jentorra
2024	Love Lies Bleeding	Jaqueline "Jackie" Cleaver
2024	Twisters	Dani
2025	Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film^[19]	TBA	Filming

Television

Television work by Katy O'Brian
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Tosh.0	Softball Player	Episode: "UCF Baseball Player"
2017	Halt and Catch Fire	Bartender	Episode: "Search"
2017–2018	The Walking Dead	Katy	2 episodes
2018	How to Get Away with Murder	Cashier Girl	Episode: "Ask Him About Stella"
2018	Z Nation	Georgia "George" St. Clair	Main cast (season 5)
2019–2020	Black Lightning	Major Sara Grey	Recurring role (season 3)
2020	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Kimball	3 episodes (season 7)
	Westworld	EMT	Episode: "The Absence of Field"
	The Talking Zed Show	Self	TV series
2020–present	The Mandalorian^[1]	Elia Kane	Recurring role (seasons 2–3)
2021	Magnum P.I.	Kai Durrell	Episode: "First the Beatdown, Then the Blowback"
	The Rookie	Katie Barnes	Episode: "New Blood"
	24 Hours of Nothing But Net with Debbie Antonelli	Self	TV special