Willa Joanna Chance Holland (born June 18, 1991) is an American actress, voice actress and model, best known for her roles on FOX's The O.C. as Kaitlin Cooper, across The CW's Arrowverse as Thea Queen / Speedy, specifically on Arrow in a regular role, as well as in the Kingdom Hearts video game series as Aqua.
Her family is heavily attached to the show business. Her father, Keith Holland, is a cinematographer while her mother, Darnell Gregorio, is also an actress. She was also Brian De Palma's step-daughter for two years and has a half-sister from her mother's marriage to him.
Selected filmography:
- The Comeback (2005) as Kalla
- The O.C. (2006-07) as Kaitlin Cooper note
- Scarface: The World is Yours (2006) as The Assassin (voice only)
- Gossip Girl (2008, 2010, 2012) as Agnes Andrews
- Kingdom Hearts series as Aqua (voice only):
- Legion (2010) as Audrey Anderson
- Straw Dogs (2011) as Janice Heddon
- Tiger Eyes (2012) as Davey Wexler
- Arrowverse as Thea Dearden Queen / Speedy:
- Arrow (2012-20)
- Flash vs. Arrow (2014)
- Heroes Join Forces (2015)
- Invasion! (2016)
Tropes about the actress:
- Action Girl: As Thea Queen in Arrow, though she started out as a survivor before becoming a badass in season 3. Her voice acting role as Aqua, however, plays this straight from the start.
- Dawson Casting: She is four years older than Thea, her character in Arrow, who began the series as a 17-year-old high school student. Since the series ran for eight years, she eventually grew out of this, though she did note this in one interview:"I think that at 21, I still look like I'm 17 years old, so I feel like I'm going to be playing teenagers for a while, and that's a very relatable stage in a teenage life for a female - that kind of rambunctious stage."
- Dull Surprise: Her voice acting gig as Aqua in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep leaves much to be desired. It's probably just a case of bad direction since Willa emotes well in her other roles (and in later Kingdom Hearts games, Aqua is slightly more emotive).
- She Also Did: Appeared in a 2004 Fruit Gushers commercial
as Carol, with her head transforming into a watermelon slice and leaving an orange headed boy stuck in her own locker. - Typecasting: Not extensively so, but most of her roles do tend to fall on the edgy side of things in varying degrees (Kaitlin, Agnes, Speedy, etc.). Not that she's complaining:"It's so much fun to play the bad girl. Everybody has that little side to them that they never really get to get out."
