Maika Monroe

Maika Monroe (born Dillon Monroe Buckley; born May 29, 1993 ) is an American actress and professional kiteboarder.

Monroe was born Dillon Monroe Buckley on May 29, 1993, in Santa Barbara, California.

Her mother was a sign language interpreter and her father was a construction worker.

She later changed her first name to Maika, by which she had already been known for most of her life.

At the age of 17, Monroe left Santa Barbara and moved to Cabarete in the Dominican Republic to continue training in kiteboarding after spending the previous summer there.

She subsequently completed her senior year of high school online.

Monroe made her film acting debut with the drama film At Any Price (2012).

In April 2012, Monroe signed up for the drama film Labor Day, an adaptation of the novel of the same name.

She played Mandy, a farm girl who romances with a young man and eventually becomes his wife and the mother of his child.

Aside from her work in horror, she has also had roles in the drama film Labor Day (2013), the action film Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), the neo-noir coming-of-age film Hot Summer Nights (2017), the comedy-drama film After Everything (2018) and the black comedy film Villains (2019).

In June 2013, she joined the cast of the psychological thriller film The Guest.

She starred in the horror film It Follows (2014), which won her several accolades, including an Empire Award nomination.

She also starred in the thriller The Guest (2014), the sci-fi thriller Tau (2018), and the psychological thrillers Greta (2018), Watcher (2022), God Is a Bullet (2023) and Longlegs (2024).

In 2014, she starred as Jay in the horror film It Follows, which became a cult hit.

In 2016, she co-starred in the invasion thriller film The 5th Wave, based on the novel of the same name.

Monroe also co-starred in the 2016 movie Independence Day: Resurgence, the sequel to Independence Day (1996), playing former First Daughter Patricia Whitmore.

She was in a relationship with actor Joe Keery from 2017 to 2023.