Skai Jackson is all grown up, and the Internet is taking notice. The young star set social media ablaze after sharing a pair of stunning photos updating users that she’s not the “kid from the meme” anymore. Instead, she’s a grown, mature woman and, like Beyonce said, “comfortable in her skin.”
— Skai (@skaijackson) September 30, 2022
Many fans know Skai Jackson from her work on The Disney Channel. But before landing a role on one of the network’s series, the Staten Island-born celebrity had already begun acting. Born in 2002, Jackson got her first acting gig on almost every kid’s favorite show, Sesame Street, in 2006. Then, she was cast in the independent film Liberty Kid the following year. Although young, Skai Jackson continued to work on screen in smaller capacities. In 2009, she had a minor role in the romantic comedy The Rebound, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lynn Whitfield, and others. Jackson would also appear in other films and television shows like Team Umizoomi, Royal Pains, Arthur, and the Smurfs.
In 2010, Skai Jackson got her first recurring role in Disney XD’s animated show, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil. She would remain a cast member for two years. In addition, the actress gained a leading role in Nickelodeon’s Bubble Guppies for its first two seasons. But in 2011, Jackson’s breakthrough role came when she was cast as “Zuri Ross” in the Disney Channel series Jessie.
Jessie ran for four seasons on the network, for which Skai Jackson remained a prominent cast member. While she served her duties on the series, the actress also made a guest appearance in Boardwalk Empire. Her “Zuri Ross” character also appeared in shows like Austin & Ally, Good Luck Charlie, Ultimate Spider-man, and K. C. Undercover. When the series ended, Skai Jackson went on to star in its spin-off, Bunk’d, for the first three seasons.
Outside of her work on screen, many remember when Skai Jackson got busy on Twitter against outspoken rapper Azealia Banks. In 2016 (when she was 14 years old), Jackson appeared to have enough of the “212” performer’s antics and social media rants and begged for Banks to “simmer down.” However, after a war of words, including Azealia Banks insulting the young actress’s physical appearance, Jackson continued to put the rapper in her place, holding her own and gaining massive respect from people on social media.
thinking about when Skai Jackson and Azealia Banks had beef 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NfUdMpiMmx
— angelᴺᴹ (@yikesangeI) February 24, 2021
But Azealia Banks was not the only person to speak about Skai Jackson’s physical appearance. Many commented on her slim figure over the years. The actress, who is also now a published author, caught wind of many of the comments and spoke about them with Entertainment Tonight in 2019. Jackson mentioned that as a child star, she bore witness to much of the negativity and “didn’t understand” why there was so much negativity towards her. She also confessed it made her “really, really sad.” However, she explained she’s now “starting to learn to love myself no matter what and not care what anyone says.”
Now, at 20 years old, Skai Jackson has shown that she remains unstoppable. In 2023, an action-thriller film, Sheroes, will be released, for which she stars. Recently, she released some pictures on social media that perhaps showed the training she’s done for the film. Fans have noticed the difference in her body before and after and have made the photos viral. Cop a gander of Skai Jackson below and see for yourself!
— Skai (@skaijackson) September 5, 2022