Whatever Happened To Bailee Madison?
When Bailee Madison was just 5 years old, she caught a casting director's attention at an audition for a movie called "Lonely Hearts." However, it wasn't her audition. "[M]y sister Kaitlin, who is 13 years older than me, went into an audition. When she came out they saw me and asked if I would audition," she recalled in Issue magazine. "I went in there and from that moment on, God blessed me." With that, her acting career was officially underway. Madison quickly booked more major motion pictures, nabbing supporting roles in films like 2007's "Bridge to Terabithia" and 2009's "Brothers" — and she was only just getting started.
From child star to young adult, Bailee Madison sure has had a stunning transformation — and she's managed to avoid the pitfalls that come with growing up in the industry. As she told Rose and Ivy in April 2021, "I was fortunate I had a family around me who kept asking, 'Are you sure you are having fun? The moment you aren't having fun we can leave.' I was always happy and looking back, there was never a second where I didn't feel like a kid."
Evidently, she has yet to stop having fun: As of this writing, Madison has almost 60 credits to her name. Suffice to say, her career has only continued to blossom. Whether she's acting in major motion pictures, starring in hit TV shows, or exploring other creative avenues, Bailee Madison stays busy.
Bailee Madison starred in Just Go With It in 2011
In 2011, Bailee Madison starred opposite Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler in the feature film "Just Go With It." In the rom-com, Madison played one of Aniston's kids. "Whenever people mention the movie, it takes me back, and it was one of the nicest sets that I was on," she shared in a 2016 Build Series chat. "It holds a special place in my heart." When asked about her experience working with Aniston, she was quick to gush about the "Friends" star. "She's amazing," Madison said. "The kindest and most beautiful, generous, and warmest person ever."
While promoting the movie's release back in February 2011, Madison, who was just 11 years old at the time, chatted with ClevverTV about her role and the work she did behind the scenes. "My character is Maggie and she's very dramatic with everything that she does because she wants to be this huge superstar. So she has this crazy Cockney accent so ... I got to study kind of Cockney for it, it was so much fun," she enthused.
"Just Go With It" may have not been a hit with critics overall, but Madison was praised for her performance. As Neil Rosen of NY1 (via The Wall Street Journal) wrote, "She's a terrific young actress, has great comedic timing, and if she keeps pursuing her acting career, she may become a big star one day."
She was on five seasons of Good Witch
While she's certainly had success on the silver screen, the TV side of Bailee Madison's filmography is nothing to sneeze at. Over the years, she's popped up on shows like "Unfabulous," "Wizards of Waverly Place," "Once Upon a Time," and "The Fosters." And in 2015, she scored a main role on the Hallmark Channel series "Good Witch."
"Good Witch," which is arguably one of Hallmark's best original series, was based on the movie franchise of the same name. The show brought back several beloved actors from the made-for-TV movie franchise, but Madison was a totally new addition. She took over the role of Grace Russell, daughter of the titular good witch Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell). Ahead of Season 3, Madison opened up to Crooked Forest about how thrilled she was to be a part of the franchise. "Nerves definitely existed as I was the newbie to the 'Good Witch' family. ... I was stepping in hoping I'd be accepted into the family," she said. "Of course, being a part of something with Hallmark Channel means it's going to be a wonderful experience, and accepted I was and I'm so thankful to call these people my second family three years later!"
After five seasons, Madison disappeared from "Good Witch." However, there were no hard feelings regarding her exit: On Instagram, she expressed her gratitude for the experience and shared that she felt it was time to move on. In the show's 7th and final season, Madison returned as a guest star.
Bailee Madison became a producer in 2016
While many high schoolers are preoccupied with studying for exams, looking for afterschool jobs, figuring out what they want to do after graduation, and thinking about who they want to go to prom with, Bailee Madison's younger years looked a little different. In 2016, she took the first steps toward becoming a producer. Her first production credit was "Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket," an adventure mystery movie she starred in as well. The following year, she worked on "A Cowgirl's Story."
In 2017, Madison chatted with Just Jared Jr. about wearing multiple hats while making "A Cowgirl's Story." "While the scene was happening, [I'd] worry about my acting, the rest of the actors, make sure everyone was hitting their marks, hear a line, and make a mental note to rewrite it; in addition to wondering if our horses need a break, if our crew is good, and if we are on time," Madison explained.
She again worked as both an actor and co-producer in 2021 on Netflix's faith-based musical "A Week Away." "This [has] genuinely been ... the most hands-on I have been able to be," she told Peer Magazine at the time "That is the biggest props to our producing team. ... They beautifully pulled up a seat for me to sit at. It is a big kid table. Through that, it allowed me to really find my voice when it comes to being a woman behind the scenes and behind the camera."
She made her directorial debut
As if Bailee Madison wasn't busy enough with acting and producing, she's eager to keep expanding her showbiz horizons. In a March 2017 interview with Pop Culture Principle, she shared that she'd like to try directing, too. "I think doing a project where I star in, write and direct would be so amazing. ... Directing is a specific goal and I look forward to being with the actors and sitting down with them and creating a character with them, and creating moments with them would be amazing," Madison enthused.
In a March 2018 interview with Coveteur, she hinted at when we might finally see her make a shift toward directing. "I love being in front of the camera, but five years from now, maybe I'll want to be behind the camera completely," she said. "I know that's one day where I feel like [my career] will take me, directing and giving back what I've been so blessed to be able to learn." In 2020, Madison made her directorial debut when she helmed the music video for "Worse" by New Hope Club.
Bailee Madison wrote her first book
Bailee Madison had just wrapped up on "A Cowgirl's Story" when "Losing Brave," her debut novel, was released in January 2018. The actor co-wrote the young adult mystery novel with her friend and Reader's Choice Award finalist, author Stefne Miller, which centered around high schooler Payton Brave and her attempts to find out what happened to her missing sister.
In October 2018, Madison told Schön! Magazine all about how her book came about. "My dear friend Stefne Miller and I were going over script notes for a film I was producing, and she stepped in to rework the script. She looked at me and said: 'Would you ever want to write a book?' and it was an instant yes. She was the perfect mentor, friend and collaborator," Madison said. "That night the first concept for 'Losing Brave' was born."
Although the "Good Witch" star has yet to publish anything else, she did express her desire to keep writing in her aforementioned interview with Coveteur. "It's something that I love. Stefne and I have been able to grow as not just friends, but as a working partnership, so she and I are having conversations right now with what we can do, either within the book world or in more my field of work. The hope of writing is very much still alive," Madison explained.
She began dating Blake Richardson in 2019
Bailee Madison's relationship history isn't particularly long, which may partly be due to the fact that she apparently met her perfect match back in April 2019. Blake Richardson is a guitarist and singer in the three-man pop band New Hope Club. As it turns out, New Hope Club's music was what connected Richardson and Madison in the first place, but they didn't get together right away.
On a June 2024 episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show," Madison opened up about their relationship origin story. She shared that she reached out to Richardson on social media after becoming a fan of his music. Though there seemed to be some sparks right out the gate, Madison didn't pursue anything at that point because she was seeing someone else at the time. "I said, 'Hi, I really like the band.' He asked for my number, I didn't respond. And then like a year later, we reconnected," she said. As fate would have it, they happened to cross paths on a dating app. "I had his number in my phone, but the app made me be like, 'Oh, my gosh,' because I hearted him, and he hearted me back in 10 seconds," she recalled. And the rest is history.
Since Madison and Richardson got together, they've been open about their relationship on Instagram, with both of them frequently sharing sweet moments together. From birthday tributes to supporting one another's professional projects, it's clear the two are meant for one another.
Bailee Madison landed the lead on the Pretty Little Liars reboot
In 2010, "Pretty Little Liars," a series based on Sara Shepard's book series of the same name, premiered on Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family). The show, which was a smash hit, ran for seven seasons and spawned multiple spinoffs, including a series that premiered on HBO Max in 2022. And who better to play one of the new Little Liars in "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin" and "Pretty Little Liars: Summer School" than Freeform alum Bailee Madison? In the latest iteration of "PLL," Madison plays Imogen Adams, one of the main characters who is taunted by the new "A."
On a May 2024 episode of "Today With Hoda & Jenna," Madison spoke about landing the show and what a colossal moment it was for her. "I was the biggest fan of the original, it was like the show that I was obsessed with growing up, so it's very full circle," the actor said.
As of this writing, Madison has been in two seasons of the "PLL" reboot. Her future on the show is yet to be determined... because the show's future is yet to be determined. As the series showrunners told Entertainment Weekly in June 2024, they don't know if they'll get picked up for another season, but they'd like a chance to keep going. "We love the show. We think we're just getting started," Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said. "We're so hopeful for a season 3."
She has been candid about growing up in front of the camera
Sadly, a number of child stars have struggled with growing up in the spotlight. Time and time again, kid actors have gone on to become young adults who have not only experienced adversity in their personal lives, but have a fraught relationship with the entertainment industry. Thankfully, Bailee Madison is on the other side of the spectrum, and she happily continues to do the work she grew up doing.
On the aforementioned episode of "Today With Hoda & Jenna," she expressed her gratitude for the legendary actors she worked with when she was a little kid. While she might've not realized it when she was younger, stars like Adam Sandler, Bette Midler, and Jennifer Aniston shaped her experience as a child actor in a major way. "They didn't have to treat me the way they did, and they all took the time I think to try to put some bit of nurturing into my soul, so I feel so grateful," she explained.
All that said, life in the spotlight hasn't always been a total breeze. "I've had to constantly reinvent myself for people to stay interested while at the same time learning about myself because I started so young," she told Teen Vogue in 2024. "So you do both of those things for 20 years, and obviously habits are going to be formed and then you're going to be so insanely aware that everyone has an opinion."
Bailee Madison struggled with her mental health during the pandemic
When pandemic lockdowns were put into effect in 2020, Bailee Madison, like so many other people around the world, spent a lot of time at home. She was grateful to be safe and secure, but as she told Rose & Ivy in 2021, this period took a toll on her mental health. "I had never been alone by myself for such a long period of time, so that really hit me," she said. "Mental health is a really big thing; it was a very hard period. ... It was a constant up and down, a roller coaster. I still feel it to this day."
When "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin" began filming, Madison was thrilled to be back at work. However, the pandemic continued to loom large, and she continued to feel isolated. As she said to Wondermind in May 2024, "We were in Covid times, and we weren't allowed to have any visitors, and we were filming upstate and very much in the middle of nowhere. I remember having this moment of: 'I'm doing a show that has always been a dream of mine, and I'm the happiest I've ever been. I'm also the lowest I've ever been.' I didn't necessarily know what to do with that." Madison went on to say that her mental health is still "a work in progress," and that she's been trying to process things in a healthy way, without beating herself up too much if she has a bad day.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
She released her debut single in 2024
Bailee Madison is no stranger to the music industry. She's acted in music videos, she's dating a musician, and what do you know? She's making her own music. In January 2024, Madison released her debut single.
As the "Pretty Little Liars" star dished to People, it all came to fruition during the SAG-AFTRA strike. The actor figured she could kill some time by cleaning out her garage, and while she was reorganizing and purging, she discovered old scripts and memorabilia from her early projects. "I think a lot of that was kind of the icing on the cake of the kind of mental and quiet work that I had been doing in my own heart and in my own brain. Which was trying to really tap into little Bailee in a sense, and bring her back," she told People. Shortly after taking a stroll down memory lane, Madison and her boyfriend drank some wine and wrote a sweet pop track titled "Kinda Fun" which she described as "kind of a hug to my younger self."
She continued, "We went to sleep and woke up and we were like, 'Let's see if we still like it, or maybe I just had one too many glasses of white wine.' Then I listened to it and we were like, 'It just felt really honest and it felt truthful.'"