Amanda Joy Michalka

Amanda Joy Michalka ( mee-SHAH-kah; born April 10, 1991) is an American actress, voice actress, singer-songwriter, and musician. She was a model before becoming an actress, and is best known as one half of the duo Aly and AJ (formerly 78Violet) with her sister Aly Michalka. AJ recorded the theme song and accompanying music video for the film Secretariat, titled "It's Who You Are". She also issued a single and video called "All I've Ever Needed" from her 2013 film Grace Unplugged. She has had a successful acting career, and after two seasons in a recurring role as Lainey Lewis on the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs, she was promoted to a regular role on the series for the third season. Michalka was demoted to recurring status for the fifth season as her character went to college and thus was in fewer storylines. The character drops out of college in the fifth season but continues to appear. She has starred with her Goldbergs colleagues Tim Meadows and Bryan Callen in the spin-off Schooled since January 2019. Michalka also has a lead role in the Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, in which she voices Catra, the former best friend and current rival to She-Ra. She voices the character Stevonnie in Steven Universe, a fusion of the protagonist Steven and his best friend Connie.