Mandalynn Carlson (born ) is an American actress whose first film appearance was in a supporting role in the 2011 action biopic Machine Gun Preacher, with Gerard Butler. Leaving Michigan for Hollywood, Carlson has had supporting and lead roles in independent films and television shows including Grey's Anatomy and '.
Carlson is an only child born to Eric and Sherri Carlson. Her grandmother Pauline Ettore was a councilwoman for Taylor, Michigan. Her parents owned Michigan Crafty & Motion Picture Catering which sparked her interest in the industry.
Homeschooled since the 6th grade, Carlson began college at the age of 15.
Carlson began her acting career in 2010 with a supporting role in Machine Gun Preacher. Carlson was in local projects in Detroit including the period piece, Mary's Buttons (2012), which was based on a true story and Naked Angel (2014). She co-starred on an episode of as a teenager who was a victim of a senseless shooting. She was in a skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2012.
In 2013, Carlson worked on her first pilot for NBC, Brenda Forever, where she was the lead alongside Ellie Kemper and Ken Marino. NBC passed on the pilot and Carlson worked on ABC's show Scandal, playing the daughter of a love affair between a high powered CEO and a nominee for a Supreme Court judge in the episode Top of the Hour.
Carlson acted with Reisig in a film, Small Town Santa (2014) starring Dean Cain and Christine Lakin. Carlson worked with Cain again on her next film, A Horse for Summer (2015), playing the lead role of Summer Dean, a troubled teen who bounces from foster home to foster home while her mother is in jail. She is eventually sent to live with her uncle whom she has never met. The film was Nancy Criss' directorial feature debut.
In 2015, Carlson worked on Deadly Sanctuary (2015), her third film with Cain and second with Nancy Criss. She then had a lead role on A Horse Tail playing Patrick Muldoon's daughter. Carlson and Atkins worked on an indie film together less than two years later, titled The Sparrows: Nesting (2015) toured the film festivals.
Carlson finished filming Fishes 'N Loaves: Heaven Sent where Muldoon plays her father in a feature film for the second time. The film is a faith based film set to be released in 2016. She was in the 2015 season 12 premiere of Grey's Anatomy playing the role of Jessica Tanner. Carlson plays Sam Lambert in Roadside Stars.
In 2017, Carlson directed an episode of Creepy Chronicles. "The Keeper", was episode 102 in the series which debuted on Amazon Prime. She was also executive producer on episode 2 and on episode 3 called "Pool Party", under her production company Smash the Glass Pictures.
Carlson joined Pure Flix's series, Hilton Head Island in season 2, recurring as troubled teen Katy Trisk.
Carlson is an activist against bullying, coming from the perspective of "living in that moment" during her elementary and middle school years. The bullying by schoolmates in grades 4âÂÂ6 led her parents to choose home schooling for her. In 2013âÂÂ14, she was a guest speaker on the TBTG Music Is My Language Tour around Southern California schools, promulgating a positive message of acceptance while advocating against bullying.
Carlson speaks with young girls about self-image and has written articles about the topic. She has visited underprivileged children in the Watts projects, supported the Ronald McDonald House of Pasadena fundraisers and visited chronically ill children at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.