Celia Kaleialoha Kenney (13) was born and raised on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Granddaughter of legendary Hawaiian entertainers Ed Kenney and Beverly Noa, Celia displayed an affinity for performing at a young age. Her grandfather performed as ‘Wang Ta' in the original Broadway production of Flower Drum Song, and so in Celia the song lives on. Father Ed Kenney Jr. is owner/chef of Town and Downtown Restaurants, and mother Kristen Kenney is a graphic artist and jewelry designer, surrounding her with creativity from birth.
Her “pinch me” moment recently came when Celia was cast in the film, The Descendants, as 'Reina', a boy crazy, carb shunning friend of character ‘Matt King’s’ daughter. The film is the screen adaptation of the novel by local writer Kaui Hart Hemmings, starring George Clooney and directed by Alexander Payne. Celia’s scene includes Clooney, as well as several of the other main characters. This high profile job is what earned Celia her coveted Screen Actors Guild card. She and her brother Duke (9) were also recently cast as principals in a Capital One Commercial, all leading to a favorable start to an acting career.
In addition to the big screen, Celia has been exercising her vocals and performing skills on the theater stage. She starred in her first Community Theatre production at the age of 8. Some of the shows under her belt include Cinderella, Gigi, Children of Eden and most recently as ‘Bonnie’ in Anything Goes. Her favorite role to date has been as ‘Little Red’ in The Performing Arts Center of Kapolei's Into The Woods. She has many solo performances on her roster as well and takes great pride in being a member of Diamond Head Theatre's Shooting Stars program.
One of Celia's goals is to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and someday perform on Broadway.
Celia continues to pursue her passion by studying voice, ballet, tap, jazz and acting, as well as auditioning for future big screen roles.
Check out Celia on Reel Stories!!!
To see more of Celia go to www.nichemodelsandtalent.com
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