Jenna Kanell

Biography

Jenna Kanell is an American actress, director, writer, and stunt performer. She gained recognition for her portrayals of Tara Heyes in Terrifier (2016) and Kim Hansen in The Bye Bye Man (2017)—both horror films. Her film career has since expanded to a variety of genres such as the political drama The Front Runner (2018) and the horror-comedy Renfield (2023).

On television, Kanell has made appearances on shows such as the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021) and the Showtime anthology series The First Lady (2022).

Jenna Kanell delivered a TEDx Talk on the experience of writing, directing, and producing the short film “Bumblebees” alongside her disabled younger brother Vance Kanell. The project went on to screen at over forty film festivals and events around the world, winning numerous awards and bringing the siblings to speak at institutions such as Harvard Medical School.

She openly identifies as a queer, gender non-conforming female, and uses she/her and they/them pronouns.