Brooklynn Prince became famous almost overnight when she was still in elementary school. She played Moonee in The Florida Project (2017), a role that turned a six-year-old newcomer into one of the most talked-about young actresses in Hollywood. This Brooklynn Prince biography looks at her early life, her career path, the awards she has won, and how she has grown from child actress to young filmmaker.
Because Prince is a minor, this profile focuses only on information she and her family have shared publicly, such as interviews, official award listings, and verified news coverage. It does not speculate about her personal life beyond what has been confirmed.
Quick Facts About Brooklynn Prince
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Brooklynn Kimberly Prince |
| Date of Birth | May 4, 2010 |
| Age (2026) | 16 years old |
| Birthplace | Winter Springs, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, filmmaker |
| Years Active | 2017 – present |
| Known For | The Florida Project, Home Before Dark, Cocaine Bear |
| Directorial Debut | Colours (2019, short film) |
| Notable Award | Critics’ Choice Movie Award, Best Young Actor/Actress (2018) |
Early Life
Prince was born on May 4, 2010, in Winter Springs, Florida. Her mother works as an acting coach, and Prince began appearing in print and screen advertisements at around age two, working with a number of well-known companies. Several sources note that Prince was homeschooled, which let her balance formal schooling with acting jobs from a young age. Because most sources covering her earliest years rely on secondhand summaries rather than firsthand family statements, some finer details of her toddler years remain unconfirmed, and this article does not treat them as fact.
Prince has one younger sibling, a brother named Cullen Prince. Reports on her parents’ names and professions vary between sources, so this article treats those specific details as unverified rather than repeating a single unconfirmed claim.
Breakout Role: The Florida Project (2017)
Prince’s first screen credits came in 2017, including a role in Robo-Dog: Airborne. That same year, director Sean Baker cast her as Moonee in The Florida Project, a low-budget drama about a young girl and her mother living in a budget motel near Walt Disney World. Critics singled out her performance as one of the film’s biggest strengths, comparing her screen presence to that of past child Oscar winners like Tatum O’Neal.
The performance made her one of the youngest actors ever discussed as a potential Oscar contender, and while she did not receive an Academy Award nomination, the buzz around her performance was real. At the 2018 Critics’ Choice Awards, a seven-year-old Prince won Best Young Actor/Actress for the role, tearfully thanking her family and inviting her fellow nominees out for ice cream in her acceptance speech. The moment was widely shared online and remains one of the most replayed award-show clips involving a child performer.
Beyond that win, Prince picked up nominations and honors from multiple critics’ groups for the same role, including recognition from the Gotham Independent Film Awards, the Chicago Film Critics Association, and the Young Artist Awards, along with wins from smaller regional critics’ circles.
Building a Career Beyond One Role
Many child actors struggle to land follow-up work after an acclaimed debut. Prince avoided that trap by taking on a mix of animated voice work, streaming television, and horror.
- 2019: She voiced a role in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and appeared in The Angry Birds Movie 2.
- 2020: She starred as Flora Fairchild in the horror film The Turning, based on Henry James’s novella, and voiced Ruby in the animated film The One and Only Ivan.
- 2020–2021: She took the lead role of Hilde Lisko in the Apple TV+ series Home Before Dark, a mystery drama loosely inspired by a real-life young journalist. The show ran for two seasons and gave Prince her first long-running lead role.
- 2021: She appeared in Settlers, a science-fiction survival film.
- 2023: She played Dee Dee in the dark comedy Cocaine Bear and took on the role of Young Helena in The Marsh King’s Daughter.
- 2024: She appeared as Kaitlyn McKay in Little Wing.
- 2026: She joined the cast of California Scenario as Phoebe Acker, and has an upcoming role in the film Sonny Lovejoy, which was in production as of this update.
This steady stream of roles across genres — comedy, horror, streaming drama, and family animation — is something most competitor profiles mention only in passing. A full year-by-year breakdown like the one above is one of the gaps this article tries to close.
Stepping Behind the Camera
One area where Prince’s story stands out, and where many existing biographies fall short, is her growing interest in directing and writing. She made her directorial debut in 2019 with the short film Colours. In 2025, while still a teenager, she wrote, produced, and directed another short film called Happy Thanksgiving, a dark comedy about a family gathering that spirals into a murder investigation after an argument over orange juice.
That project did well on the festival circuit. It was selected for the 2025 Orlando Independent Film Festival and the All American High School Film Festival, where Prince won the Audience Choice Award. In January 2026, she was also named “Best Young Female Filmmaker” at the Indie Short Fest. These wins suggest that Prince, who has said in past interviews that she wants to direct when she is older, is already building a track record behind the camera rather than only in front of it.
Awards and Recognition Summary
Prince’s awards recognition centers heavily on her Florida Project performance, though her later directing work has started to add a second wave of honors. Her most notable recognitions include:
- Critics’ Choice Movie Award — Best Young Actor/Actress, 2018 (won)
- Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association — Best Youth Performance (won)
- Seattle Film Critics Society — Best Youth Performance (won)
- Women Film Critics Circle — Best Young Actress (won)
- Alliance of Women Film Journalists — Best Breakthrough Performance, 2018 (won)
- Multiple nominations from the Gotham Independent Film Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association, and Young Artist Awards for The Florida Project
- Audience Choice Award, All American High School Film Festival, for Happy Thanksgiving (2025)
- Best Young Female Filmmaker, Indie Short Fest, January 2026
Recent Update (2026)
As of early 2026, Prince has continued to balance acting and filmmaking. She attended the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February 2026, and her role in California Scenario marked one of her newer on-screen credits this year. Her win at the Indie Short Fest in January 2026 for her short film work also shows that her directing career is gaining outside recognition, not just festival selections. Beyond these confirmed items, this article does not add further 2026 claims that could not be checked against more than one source.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Brooklynn Prince?
Brooklynn Prince was born on May 4, 2010, which makes her 16 years old as of 2026.
What is Brooklynn Prince best known for?
She is best known for playing Moonee in The Florida Project (2017), a role that earned her a Critics’ Choice Movie Award. She is also known for playing Hilde Lisko in the Apple TV+ series Home Before Dark and for appearing in Cocaine Bear.
Did Brooklynn Prince win an Oscar?
No. While critics discussed her as a possible Academy Award contender for The Florida Project, she did not receive an Oscar nomination. She did win the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Actor/Actress.
Is Brooklynn Prince a director now?
Yes. She directed the short film Colours in 2019 and wrote, produced, and directed Happy Thanksgiving in 2025, which won awards on the festival circuit, including recognition at the Indie Short Fest in January 2026.
What is Brooklynn Prince’s net worth?
Various entertainment sites publish estimated net worth figures for Prince, but none of these numbers come from a verified or official source. Any figure circulating online should be treated as an unconfirmed estimate as of 2026, not a confirmed fact.
How This Was Researched
I researched this biography using publicly available interviews, verified news coverage from outlets like Entertainment Tonight and TODAY, official award listings, and film industry databases. Where competitor articles repeated the same short list of Prince’s early roles without a real timeline or without mentioning her directing work in detail, I built out a fuller year-by-year career section and a dedicated section on her directing projects to close that gap. Where details about her family or early childhood were inconsistent across sources, I noted that clearly instead of picking one unverified version to repeat.
Accuracy Note
This biography is based on publicly available information, including interviews, official award records, and verified news coverage. If you spot anything outdated or incorrect, please let us know so we can update it.
Written and researched by Hassan, contributor at ntx magazine.
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Written by Hassan, founder and editor of NTX Magazine — an independent news and biography publication. Every article is researched and cross-checked against multiple public sources before publishing; see our Sourcing Standards page for details.