Raegan Revord's Evolution From Modern Family To Young Sheldon
"Young Sheldon" star Raegan Revord has been entertaining people her whole life. Revord began performing skits at home for her family and their guests as a toddler and insisted they record everything. "You can hear me at the end of all of them say 'I wanna see the video,'" Revord told SBJCT Journal. This love of entertaining sparked a modeling career when "my mom's friend connected her to an owner of an agency and she started representing me," Revord told A Book Of.
"I was pretty young when I started, I think like 4 or 5. I started out doing print campaigns and then commercials," Revord told SBJCT Journal. "I worked on a lot of commercial, and when I started seeing myself on TV, I asked my parents how to be on TV shows and movies." Although Revord found quick success as a model, that doesn't mean she hasn't faced challenges. "You're definitely going to hear a lot of no's," Revord told Good Kid Project, warning other children who want to act that a career isn't a string of successes, but paved with many rejections that ultimately lead to your breakthrough.
If you've followed Revord's acting career, you've watched her grow up on screen during the last decade, and this evolution has been a sight to see. From "Modern Family" to "Young Sheldon," stick with us as we explore the milestones of Revord's promising career as an actress and what she has envisioned for her future.
Raegan Revord's first acting gig was on Modern Family
After getting an agent, Raegan Revord's first major booking was on the ABC sitcom "Modern Family." "[My parents] got me a manager that started [to submit] me for theatrical jobs, and at 6 is when I booked 'Modern Family,'" Revord told SBJCT Journal. Revord was cast as Megan in the Season 6 episode "Won't You Be Our Neighbor." Revord is only in one scene of the episode, but she's adorable as Lily's (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) friend from school.
Revord revisited the character in the Season 7 episode "The Storm." In the episode, Lily throws a princess party, which has to be moved to Jay (Ed O'Neill) and Gloria's (Sofía Vergara) house when a storm knocks out the power and the Pritchetts are the only ones with power because Jay bought a generator. Revord's part is a small supporting role, but being on a series with as much visibility as "Modern Family" helped open doors for her.
"I've always loved entertaining, making people laugh, getting dressed up and putting on plays or concerts, but when I did my first episode of 'Modern Family,' I knew!" Revord told PhotoBook Magazine. "I remember wrapping the first episode and crying. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to return every day. That's when I asked my mom how to be on a TV show every day but without auditioning. Now I know that's a series regular, but at 6 I had no idea what any of that meant."
Revord continued modeling
Although Raegan Revord instantly knew she had caught the acting bug after filming her first episode of "Modern Family," she continued modeling in print campaigns while auditioning for other roles. Revord was in a Kohl's print advertisement and did a little modeling for Mattel in a Barbie campaign long before the character became a film icon. Revord always gets a kick out of seeing herself in ads and on packaging and shares these real-life encounters on social media, as she did on Twitter when she saw herself on a Little Charmers package while shopping at Target with her mom.
A history in modeling is excellent preparation for any actress because it helps one become comfortable in front of the camera, and it prepares one for all those magazine covers and editorial spreads in-demand actresses are asked to do. Revord has already landed a couple of covers in Muze Magazine and Unpopular Style Magazine. Revord has also graced the pages of SBJCT Journal, Cliché Magazine, and PhotoBook Magazine in editorial fashion spreads that show she's got modeling talent.
She landed a few gigs in 2015 alongside huge stars
Raegan Revord's first role in "Modern Family" must have helped her land a few more roles in 2015. She played a nameless ballerina in Jean E. Lee's short film, "Tortoise." In addition to Revord, the short film packs some major talent. "Scream" star David Arquette plays Daniel, a man with a troubling past trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Autumn Rae Shannon) during a Halloween adventure. Danielle Macdonald, an actress 20 years Arquette's junior who starred in "Patti Cake$" and "Bird Box," plays the mother.
Revord also played Anna in the dystopian short film "Jia" about a mysterious woman who begins working for two competing crime lords after arriving in their coastal town. The film is directed by legendary Hollywood stuntperson and fight choreographer Steven Ho.
On TV, Revord appeared in Episode 3 of the single-season comedy sketch series "W/Bob & David," starring David Cross and Bob Odenkirk, playing Greg's (Odenkirk) daughter. Unfortunately, you can't watch the episode Revord was cast in because Netflix pulled it from their streaming catalog. One of the sketches features Cross in blackface. It's a shame everything Revord acted in during 2015 isn't available to stream, because we would have loved to check out the evolution of her acting from the previous year in "Modern Family."
Revord was cast in a couple of streaming series
After her brief run on "Modern Family" ended, Raegan Revord scored a few roles on some streaming series. In her higher-profile appearance of the two shows, she was cast as a nameless little girl in one episode of Netflix's "Grace and Frankie." In Season 2, Episode 2, "The Vitamix," Revord is in a scene where Frankie (Lily Tomlin) steals a bag of vending machine Cheez-Its from a nameless little girl at the hospital after Robert (Martin Sheen) has a heart attack. Sharing the screen with the iconic duo of Jane Fonda and Tomlin must have been a highlight for Revord. Although, she may have been a touch too young to understand how lucky she was!
Revord joined a class at Millard Fillmore Elementary School as Melinda in Season 2 of the TV Land sitcom "Teachers," in the episode "School Sweet School." This episode is filled with the standard shenanigans one would expect from a series created by the comedy sketch troupe The Katydids. This wasn't Revord's first time working with sketch comics, but this time around you can actually watch the episode Revord is in. If you haven't seen this comedy series, it's worth checking out! You can watch "Teachers" on the Paramount+ streaming service.
2017 saw her cast in two short films
In 2017, Raegan Revord played Amy in the short film "I See You." Revord's part plays a small but pivotal role in the film. Amy approaches a stranger (Shahaub Roudbari) on the subway and asks where he is going. This simple question leads the man to rethink his mission as a suicide bomber. Because the man sees his enemy humanized in the face of an innocent child, it dredges up memories and some reluctance as he struggles with his choices and his dedication to the cause.
The same year, Revord also played Zoe Ackert in "Stray." The short film follows a mysterious teenage boy, Ben Garber (James Blakely), who has a secret. Ben tries to befriend a family living in a neighboring town, and Zoe is the youngest child of said family. Director and American Film Institute graduate Drew Boylan has made numerous short films, so Revord had the chance to work with a seasoned filmmaker, and her co-stars Shaw Jones and Elizabeth Sandy are also bit actors with dozens of credits apiece on productions small and large. This short was an official selection at numerous film festivals in 2018 and 2019, and the director Drew Boylan has made numerous short films. Unfortunately, neither of these films is available to stream, so we can't break down Revord's performance in either short.
She was in a horror movie
In 2017, Raegan Revord played a younger version of Clare in "Wish Upon," a horror movie starring Ryan Phillippe and Joey King as a father and daughter whose life circumstances deteriorate after Clare's (King) mother commits suicide when Clare is young. "Wish Upon" comes from the director of "Annabelle" and follows teenage Clare as she destroys her life by using a mysterious wishing box that has a strange connection to her mother and collects a blood price for wishes.
Revord played Clare in the opening scene of the film. But considering Revord's taste in entertainment, don't expect her to watch this movie anytime soon. "I love watching any genre," Revord told Glitter Magazine. "I'm not picky. My mom loves to watch the classics, so we always watch those together. My dad and I love action and sci-fi. I feel I have a wide range of what I watch, but I will not watch horror!"
However, the "Young Sheldon" actress expressed interest in joining the cast of another horror movie in the future. "For my next project, I'd like to do something completely different than Missy [Cooper]," Revord told Unpopular Style Magazine. "I'm scared of scary movies so maybe being in one would help me to get over my fear?!" Now that Revord is getting older and growing into her teen years, if she is in another horror movie, it's likely she would watch it this time around — and probably attend the movie premiere.
Revord joined the cast of Alexa & Katie for one episode
Also in 2017, Raegan Revord played Ainsley in one episode of "Alexa & Katie," a heartwarming Netflix series about two best friends who begin navigating their freshman year of high school as Alexa (Paris Berelc) begins treatment for leukemia days before school begins. The series is a comedy, despite the difficult circumstances Alexa experiences while undergoing treatment for cancer. The heart of the series is built around the strong bond the two lifelong friends share, and it also involves their families, who are neighbors.
In the Season 3 episode "Always Something There to Remind Me," Revord plays Ainsley, a student in Katie's younger brother Jack's (Finn Carr) Tae Kwon Do class. Revord is the only student in the class who has lines in the scene, other than Jack, and her comedic timing is excellent. Revord's talent for playing sassy characters is clear during her brief performance on "Alexa & Katie." Revord was obviously thrilled to join the cast for a guest role when she shared a photo of her posing with her script for the feel-good Netflix series on her Instagram account. The series also stars Isabel May as Katie, who would later work with Revord again as Veronica Duncan in Seasons 2 and 3 of "Young Sheldon."
She's hilarious as Missy on Young Sheldon
Raegan Revord's breakout role, of course, is Missy Cooper in the "Big Bang Theory" prequel, "Young Sheldon." "I got the audition during pilot season from my agent and manager, which is such a busy time," Raegan Revord told Cliché Magazine. "I was auditioning for a bunch of shows, but I kept asking my mom about the Missy role. I loved her character so much and thought she was hilarious and would be fun to play." Revord said she went through many rounds of auditions for the role of Missy. Revord told AOL her agent and manager pranked her mom and pretended Revord hadn't gotten the part when she did.
Revord has been turning in excellent performances as Missy Cooper, Sheldon Cooper's twin sister in "Young Sheldon," since day one. "I love playing Missy," Revord told SBJCT Journal. "Every time I get our scripts I laugh out loud when I read Missy's little sassy comments." She also told PhotoBook Magazine of her character, "Missy is a character I really admire. She speaks her mind, she's brave, and she's confident. I think she's very relatable and someone a lot of young girls look up to."
Revord said she loves working with the cast and crew and has developed a special bond with Iain Armitage, the actor who plays Sheldon. One might even think they are actually twins in real life. "We'll be in the middle of a scene, and all of a sudden, we just both glance at each other at the exact same moment and just burst out laughing for no reason whatsoever," Revord told Now This Kids (via Looper).
Audiences have watched Revord grow up on TV
Raegan Revord was so young when she began playing Missy on "Young Sheldon" and has evolved before viewers' eyes into a teenager in the series. "I've really grown up on this show with this group of people and they have truly helped shape who I am," Revord told SBJCT Journal. It seems the cast of this prequel series is a second family to Revord, who is an only child but gets to experience having siblings in the series.
Raegan has been able to evolve as Missy has grown during the series, and the young actress said she has experienced many traditional milestones through playing Missy. "I think I would describe it as a natural evolution," Revord told A Book Of. "In the first season, I was so tiny! I was only 9 years old. You really just saw me at home with my family and interacting with them. Over the seasons, you start to see what my hobbies are, my first crush and heartbreak."
In later seasons, she said, she got to experience the life of a "typical preteen" through Missy. "We are seeing her in middle school and having those middle school experiences, which I love because I'm homeschooled, so I haven't experienced a lot of that," Revord told Cliché Magazine. Revord explained how the episode where Missy gets teased at school for having hairy legs really stood out as an experience she would never have in life, saying, "I have no idea what that's like because it's just me and my studio teacher, so I experience a lot through Missy."
Raegan Revord is looking toward the future
With the last season of "Young Sheldon" imminent, Raegan Revord is looking toward the future. It sounds like she's got big plans. Revord said she may parlay her book club, #ReadingWithRaegan, into a writing career. "I have a book agent now, which I can't believe!" Revord told Cliché Magazine. She said that she plans to use her free time on hiatus from "Young Sheldon" to write — the book she's working on is a young adult fantasy story she has aspirations of turning into a series. "One of my dreams has always been to be a published author, so fingers crossed!" she said.
Revord is also interested in becoming a director and producer. "I optioned a book last year and finally have the pilot done for that and we've been shopping it around," Revord told Unclear Magazine. "That's been a lot of fun, I would love to do more of that. Developing projects that I can produce and maybe star in if time allows. I want to do it all. I really love seeing all these young females become little Reese Witherspoons."
None of this means Revord is done with acting, though. "A dream role for me would to be a character in the MCU," she told Glitter Magazine. "I'm so obsessed. I love action movies, so being a superhero so that I can have stunts would be so cool!" Revord has also expressed an interest in theater, telling PhotoBook Magazine about her passion for Broadway and how many shows she saw pre-coronavirus pandemic. We're excited to see what Revord does with the next decade of her career.