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Hala Finley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hala Finley
Born (2009-05-18) May 18, 2009 (age 15)[1]
Gladstone, Missouri, U.S.[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 and career

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Finley was born on May 18, 2009, in Gladstone, Missouri, the daughter of a Libyan mother, Somiya Finley. It was from her mother, who has had a modest screen career of her own, that Finley first acquired her interest in acting. Moreover, the two appeared together in Hala's film debut, the 2014 Kansas-City-filmed short, Counter Parts. The following year, the family relocated to Los Angeles, in furtherance not only of Finley's screen prospects and her mother's, but also those of her older brother, who wished to learn cinematography.[2]

In Los Angeles, Finley appeared in print and TV commercials.[citation needed] In 2015, she played the lead role in Grammy. 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

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 Counter Parts Twins Short film
2015 Grammy Child Short film
2016 Letters from a Father Young Marie Short film[9]
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
2024 Venom: The Last Dance Echo Moon

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2016–2020 Man with a Plan Emme Burns Main role; 69 episodes
2018 American Housewife Harriet Episode: "Highs and Lows"[10]
2019 Teachers Delia Episode: "The Tell-Tale Cart"
2022 Magnum P.I. Ella Vaughn Episode: "Remember Me Tomorrow"
2024 Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Hayna Episode: "Can't Say I Remember No At Attin"

References

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  1. ^ "Birthdays - May 18". St. Louis Post - Dispatch. May 18, 2024. p. 2. ProQuest 3056175726. Comedian Tina Fey ("30 Rock," "Saturday Night Live") is 54. Musician Jack Johnson is 49. Country singer David Nail is 45. Singer Darryl Allen of Mista is 44. [...] Actor Spencer Breslin ("The Cat in the Hat") is 32. Actor Violett Beane ("God Friended Me") is 28. Actor Hala Finley ("Man With a Plan") is 15. See also:
    • "Celebrity birthdays for May 18". The Times - Transcript. May 18, 2017. p. C2. ProQuest 1899691997. Comedian Tina Fey (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live) is 47. [...] Musician Jack Johnson is 42. Country singer David Nail is 38. Singer Darryl Allen of Mista is 37. [...] Actor Spencer Breslin is 25. Actress Hala Finley (Man With a Plan) is 8.
  2. ^ a b Kelly, Dan (July 24, 2022). "She's a Born Star: 13-year-old from Kansa City area wows Hollywood". The Kansas City Star. pp. 1C, 2C. Retrieved February 5, 2025. "Hala Finley might be only 13, but she is a Hollywood veteran [...] The Kansas City area native has a major role in the upcoming movie 'Paradise Highway.' [...] After moving with her family from Gladstone to Los Angeles when she was 6, Hala quickly broke into the business [...] She said her family’s move to California was mostly for the sake of her older brother, who wanted to learn cinematography. But she also already had an interest in acting, which she inherited from her mother. Somyia Finley has appeared in several movies, including a short filmed in Kansas City called 'Counter Parts [...] Hala made her screen debut in “Counter Parts” as a 4-year-old. Hala is of Libyan-American descent, and her name means 'halo around the moon' in Arabic."
  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. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020. 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. ^ Warren, Andrew (October 22, 2016). "Parental Bliss: Matt LeBlanc's New Sitcom Premieres on CBS and Global". Star-Herald. p. 25. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  10. ^ Robinson, Jacob (December 5, 2020). "'We Can Be Heroes' Netflix Release Date Moved to Christmas Day". What's on Netflix. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
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