Alice Halsey is having a career year that most young actors can only dream about. The 10-year-old rising star, already set to lead Netflix’s highly anticipated reboot of “Little House on the Prairie,” has now joined the cast of “Ally Clark,” the upcoming Amazon MGM thriller anchored by Oscar winner Viola Davis. The announcement, confirmed by Deadline on April 7, marks a remarkable leap forward for a performer who made her professional debut just three years ago.
“Ally Clark” has rounded out its ensemble with six new additions, and Halsey is among them, alongside Jefferson White, Chris Sullivan, Lily Santiago, Peter Macon, and Sydney Lemmon. Davis leads the project, with Jason Clarke and Benjamin Bratt also set to star. The film, currently in production, is directed by Phillip Noyce from a script by Jose Ruisanchez and Irwin Winkler. It follows an investigator named Ally Clark as she pursues a dangerous case that pulls her from the skyscrapers of New York City to the sweltering bayous of Louisiana and the icy peaks of Alaska. Character details for Halsey’s role remain under wraps.
The casting notice is brief on specifics, but the company she is keeping speaks volumes. Sharing a call sheet with Davis, who earned the Academy Award for her work in “Fences” and headlined the acclaimed series “How to Get Away with Murder,” is no small thing for any performer at any stage of their career. For a 10-year-old joining a prestige studio thriller, it is nothing short of extraordinary.
Halsey is no newcomer to high-caliber projects. She launched her career at age 7, playing Madeline Zott, the sharp and precocious daughter of Brie Larson’s character, in Apple TV+’s widely praised limited series “Lessons in Chemistry.” From there, she stepped into the recurring role of Rachel Black on the Peacock soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” guest-starred on NBC’s “Night Court,” and lent her voice to the Disney Junior animated series “Kindergarten: The Musical.” Each credit added a new layer to a resume that is now building toward something unmistakably significant.
The centerpiece of that resume, heading into this summer, is her starring role as Laura Ingalls in Netflix’s forthcoming “Little House on the Prairie.” The series premieres July 9 and has already been renewed for a second season before a single episode has aired, a rare vote of confidence from the streamer. Produced by CBS Studios and Anonymous Content, the show comes from showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine, known for her work on “The Boys” and “The Vampire Diaries.” Halsey’s co-stars include Luke Bracey as Charles Ingalls, Crosby Fitzgerald as Caroline Ingalls, and Skywalker Hughes as older sister Mary. The series is described as part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West.
The parallel between Halsey and Melissa Gilbert, who originated the television role of Laura Ingalls in the beloved NBC series that ran from 1974 through 1983, has not gone unnoticed. Gilbert was also 10 years old when she first stepped into the role, and she has publicly welcomed this new adaptation. When her own casting was announced, Halsey wrote on Instagram, “I love all of the Little House books so much, and I’m so excited and grateful to get to bring Laura to life.”
Now, with “Ally Clark” confirmed alongside “Little House on the Prairie,” Halsey is navigating a workload that would challenge many adult actors. Her trajectory from a television debut at 7 years old to carrying a major Netflix reboot and joining a prestige Amazon MGM thriller in the span of just three years is the kind of story that rarely comes along in Hollywood. The industry moves slowly for most, but for Alice Halsey, the pace is accelerating fast, and all eyes are watching where she lands next.
