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==Early life==
Mckenna Grace was born on June 25, 2006,<ref name="birthday">{{cite web |title=Famous Birthdays for June 25: La La Anthony, McKenna Grace |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/06/25/Famous-birthdays-for-June-25-La-La-Anthony-McKenna-Grace/9111655998001 |work=[[United Press International]] |access-date=June 20, 2023 |language=en |date=June 25, 2022 |archive-date=October 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005061951/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/06/25/Famous-birthdays-for-June-25-La-La-Anthony-McKenna-Grace/9111655998001/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[Grapevine, Texas]], United States.<ref name="Dodson">{{cite web |last1=Dodson |first1=P. Claire |title=Mckenna Grace on ''Ghostbusters'', Childhood & Doing Everything at Once |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mckenna-grace-on-ghostbusters-childhood-and-doing-everything-at-once-interview |website=[[Teen Vogue]] |access-date=June 19, 2023 |date=November 19, 2021 |archive-date=June 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619152946/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mckenna-grace-on-ghostbusters-childhood-and-doing-everything-at-once-interview |url-status=live }}</ref> She is the only child of Ross Burge, an [[orthopedic surgeon]], and Crystal Grace, a medical sales representative.<ref name="Chen" /><ref name="Hendrickson">{{cite web |last1=Hendrickson |first1=Paula |title=Mckenna Grace's ''Bad Seed'' Sequel |url=https://www.emmys.com/news/mix/mckenna-grace |publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] |access-date=November 15, 2023 |language=en |date=September 2, 2022 |archive-date=November 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115012411/https://www.emmys.com/news/mix/mckenna-grace |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Vary">{{cite web |last1=Vary |first1=Adam B. |title=How Mckenna Grace Went from a ''Gifted'' Child Star to the Next ''Ghostbuster'' |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/mckenna-grace-ghostbusters-afterlife-1235114298/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=June 19, 2023 |date=November 17, 2021 |archive-date=September 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909192548/https://variety.com/2021/film/news/mckenna-grace-ghostbusters-afterlife-1235114298/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As a young child, she lived in [[Dallas-Fort Worth]].<ref name="Vary" /> She trained in cheerleading, gymnastics, tap, and ballet. She participated in [[Child beauty pageant|beauty pageants]], where she was crowned "Tiny Miss Texas".<ref name="Dodson" /> Grace has never attended a regular school; she has been [[homeschooled]] and had on-set tutors.<ref name="Vary" /> In 2017, Grace stated she was attending a creative writing workshop with other homeschooled students once a week.<ref name="Chen" /> She took a college course on media aesthetics in 2021, in which she had to repeatedly write about ''[[The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)|The Handmaid's Tale]]'' without mentioning her own work on the show.<ref name="Feller" />
Grace first expressed interest in acting at age four, after she received a collection of DVD films starring [[Shirley Temple]] from her great-grandmother. Grace's acting teacher, who was [[Morgan Fairchild]]'s sister, advised that she should sign with an agent.<ref name="Vary" /> Grace secured her first part in a commercial at the age of five.<ref name="Levine" /> Her agent later recommended traveling to Los Angeles to see if she might land roles in films and television shows. After Grace secured parts in ''[[Crash & Bernstein]]'' (2012–2014) and ''[[Goodbye World]]'' (2013), her family moved to the city, with her father having a [[residency (medicine)|residency]] in [[Ventura, California|Ventura]].<ref name="Vary" />
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