Kat Graham

Kat Graham
Born
Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham

(1989-09-05) September 5, 1989 (age 34)
Geneva, Switzerland
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • dancer
  • model
Years active1998–present
Known forPlaying Bonnie Bennett on The Vampire Diaries
Spouse
Bryant Wood
(m. 2023)
Musical career
Also known asToro Gato
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1998–present
Labels
Websitewww.KatGraham.com

Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham (born September 5, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and activist. She played Bonnie Bennett on The CW supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017). Her film credits include The Parent Trap (1998), 17 Again (2009), The Roommate (2011), Honey 2 (2011), Addicted (2014), and All Eyez on Me (2017). In music, Graham has released two extended plays and four studio albums.

Early life

Graham was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and raised in Los Angeles, California, United States. Her father, Joseph, is of Americo-Liberian descent, and her mother, Natasha, is Jewish (from a family from Poland and Russia). Graham's father was a music executive and the godfather of two of producer Quincy Jones' children. Her paternal grandfather was a UN Ambassador, serving for 40 years in the Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, and Kenya. Graham disclosed in an interview that her father left the music industry to work as a journalist under his father for the UN. Her maternal and paternal grandparents were refugees from the Holocaust and Liberia, and she credits them as an inspiration for her work as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR.

Her parents divorced when she was 5 years old. She has a half-brother, Yakov, born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Graham was raised in her mother's Jewish religion and attended a Hebrew school.

Career

Commercials and dancing

Graham began her career in the entertainment industry at age 6. Within the following eight years, she appeared in numerous television commercials, including advertisements for Barbie, Edison, K-Mart, and Pop-Tarts. At age 15, Graham caught the eye of choreographer Fatima Robinson, and was asked to perform at the BET Awards as a background dancer for Bow Wow. Graham followed her BET Awards appearance with work as a background dancer for Missy Elliott, Pharrell Williams, Jamie Foxx, and choreographers Hi-Hat and Michael Rooney. At age 17, Graham participated in a national marketing campaign to advertise Coca-Cola's soda brand Fanta. Graham appeared in the marketing campaign as a member of the "Fantanas", known as Capri, also known as Strawberry. Graham has appeared in various music videos, including Akon's "Lonely", Christina Milian's "Dip It Low", Justin Bieber and Usher's "Somebody to Love (Remix)", 112's "What If", John Legend's "Used to Love U", B2K's "Why I Love You", Musiq Soulchild's "B.U.D.D.Y.", Nelly's "Just A Dream" and Diddy – Dirty Money with Usher's "Looking for Love".

Television and film

Graham in June 2013

In 1998, Graham made her film debut as a child star on the remake version of The Parent Trap alongside Lindsay Lohan. Graham plays the role of Jackie, a Camp Walden camper. In 2002, Graham made her television debut on the Disney Channel teen comedy series Lizzie McGuire. Graham went on to appear on various television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The O.C., Malcolm in the Middle, Joan of Arcadia, Grounded For Life, and Greek. In 2008, she appeared in the musical comedy series Hannah Montana playing the role of a girlfriend to Jason Earles's character Jackson Stewart as a guest appearance for three episodes. Graham has also had well-known supporting roles in films such as 17 Again and The Roommate.

In December 2008, Graham began filming sci-fi/dance film Boogie Town in Los Angeles. However, shooting the film was put on hold that same month due to payroll issues with background performers. In April 2009, principal photography was stopped due to schedule conflicts with some of her co-stars and other projects. The film is a retelling of the tragedy Romeo and Juliet and is set in a futuristic New York City where dance battles are permanently banned. Graham plays the role of Ingrid. The film was set to be released in theaters worldwide October 2011; however, it was set to be originally released in June 2009.

In March 2009, Graham was cast in The CW supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries based on the book series of the same name. Graham plays the role of Bonnie Bennett, a young witch, which is considered her breakout role. The series premiered on September 10, 2009, to 4.91 million viewers and received mixed reviews for its progression from critics. In May 2012, the series was renewed for the show's fourth season. She took over as the female lead in 2015 after the Canadian actress Nina Dobrev departed for the seventh season. In 2011, Graham won "Choice TV Female Scene Stealer" at the Teen Choice Awards for her role on the show.

In August 2010, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Graham was cast in the Universal Pictures dance drama film Honey 2. The film is a sequel to the 2003 film Honey. The film follows a troubled girl and aspiring dancer who joins a dance crew. The film was released theatrically in selected countries for a limited release and went on to make over US$8 million worldwide. In June 2011, the film was released direct-to-DVD in North America to negative reviews from critics though Graham's performance and dancing was praised. Later that year, Graham starred in the dance-oriented comedy film, Dance Fu, in which she appeared as the female lead.[citation needed]

In 2017, she played actress Jada Pinkett Smith in the Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me.

Graham starred in the Netflix romantic comedy films The Holiday Calendar (2018), Operation Christmas Drop (2020), and Love in the Villa (2022). She has also made an appearance in the 2018 apocalyptic thriller How It Ends.

In 2022, Graham competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Robo-Girl." After besting Mario Cantone as "Maize" and Gloria Gaynor as "Mermaid" on "Andrew Lloyd Webber Night," she was eliminated on "Muppet Night" alongside Jerry Springer as "Beetle."

Music

Kat Graham

In 2002, she wrote a song titled "Derailed", which was featured in the Jean-Claude Van Damme film of the same title. In 2006, Graham pursued a career as a musical artist. Graham found her break in 2007 when she was featured on "The Donque Song" and "I Got It From My Mama" on singer/rapper will.i.am's third studio album Songs About Girls. The move saw Graham embark on a world tour with The Black Eyed Peas as a supporting act for the Black Blue & You Tour. In April 2010, the song "My Boyfriends Back" released on YouTube and got over 1 million views. In October 2010, Graham released her debut single "Sassy". A music video for the song premiered that same month, but the track performed poorly and it failed to chart. She then went on to release covers of artists such as Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul which garnered Graham the attention of Paula who praised her cover. Graham contributed a cover of the Garbage song "Only Happy When It Rains" to The Vampire Diaries soundtrack. The song premiered in December 2010 in an episode of the series titled "The Sacrifice". In March 2011, Graham released another single titled "I Want It All". The music video released in May 2011.

In February 2012, Graham signed a recording contract with A&M/Octone Records, her first major label signing. In March 2012, Graham released "Put Your Graffiti On Me". The song itself received positive reviews from critics. In the same month, the music video premiered and as of October 19, 2012, had reached 4,843,458 views on YouTube. The song peaked at #5 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. On May 29, Graham performed the track on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. This was marked as her first televised musical performance ever. On that same day Graham released her first EP Against The Wall which debuted at #54 on the iTunes Music Album Chart. The music video for her second single "Wanna Say" was directed by Benny Boom and produced by London Alley.[citation needed] She also appeared on the song "Dog Day Afternoon" from the Ras Kass & Doc Hollywood free collaborative digital album Spit No Evil. On June 25, 2013, Graham gave the opportunity to five fans to release the name of her new single on Twitter, and released the single premiere of "Power" at Billboard.com the next day. As stated on Billboard.com, Graham also released a new single titled "1991" on March 10, 2015.

On September 25, 2015 Graham released her first studio album Roxbury Drive. Her second studio album was Love Music Funk Magic, released on June 2, 2017. Throughout 2018, Graham released The Dance Collective, a series of short dance videos for old songs, including some unrealized songs, on her Youtube channel.

Graham released her debut as Toro Gato, a new identity embracing her West African culture and ancestry, the EP Toro Gato on September 10, 2021, as a part of her NFT collection. A music video of her first single, “Swim,” from the album was uploaded onto a separate YouTube channel under the same name as her EP a month prior. She released Toro Gato Pt. II on January 28, 2022; only a day following the upload of the music video for “White Flag,” her second single from the project. The full album Toro Gato: Part II (Deluxe Edition) was released the same day in 3 versions, and includes unreleased songs and short films, as well as vinyls, cassettes, and exclusive merchandise. Both albums are exclusively available on the YellowHeart NFT platform for a limited time as a part of the Toro Gato collection. This project is the first time ever that audio and video content is exclusive to view and experience only on an owned NFT.

On June 3, 2022 she released fourth album titled Long Hot Summer, and announced her first solo world tour, in partnership with GLAAD.

On September 13, 2023 Graham announced The TIME World Tour 2023/2024, where she intends to perform songs from her entire career.

Other ventures

On August 31, 2011, Graham released her debut book, a collection of Neruda styled poems, The Blue Sky Chronicles.

In collaboration with Frank Elaridi and Bryant Wood, Kat Graham founded the wellness company Modern Nirvana in 2019. On October 18, 2022, in collaboration with Jennifer Sodini, Frank Elardi, Bryant Wood, and Illustrator Natalee Miller, Graham released The Modern Nirvana Oracle Deck: Awaken Your Intuition and Deepen Your Awareness -50 Cards & Guidebook.

She hosted with Deepak Chopra The Consciousness Collective Podcast from 2019 to 2020.

On June 7, 2023, Graham announced the release of her upcoming self-help book titled Seasons of You. It was released on November 14 the same year.

Artistry

Graham cites Tupac Shakur, Destiny's Child, The Beatles, Janet Jackson, M.I.A., Gwen Stefani, Spice Girls, Madonna, Grace Jones, and Prince as musical influences. She describes her sound as "vintage 90's with a modern twist."

Personal life

Due to her multilingual upbringing, Graham speaks English, French, and Spanish, as well as some Hebrew and Portuguese.

Graham began dating actor Cottrell Guidry in 2008; they became engaged in October 2012. By December 2014, they had ended their relationship. From 2017 to 2023, Graham was in a relationship with producer and director Darren Genet, whom she was engaged to from 2022 until their breakup. In October 2023, it was announced that Graham had married her business partner, Bryant Wood, in Los Angeles.

In a 2023 interview with Kelly Clarkson, Graham disclosed that her mother had recently died from an unnamed illness.

Graham has been a vegan since 2012, having previously been vegetarian.

Since 2017, Graham has resided in Atlanta, Georgia, having previously lived in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Parent Trap Jackie
2004 Johnson Family Vacation Dancer
2009 17 Again Jamie
2011 The Roommate Kim Johnson
2011 Honey 2 Maria Bennett
2011 Dance Fu Chaka Lovebell Direct-to-video
2012 Boogie Town Ingrid
2014 Addicted Diamond
2015 Muse Muse Short film and also producer
2017 All Eyez on Me Jada Pinkett
2017 Where's the Money Alicia
2018 How It Ends Samantha
2018 The Holiday Calendar Abby Sutton
2019 The Poison Rose Rose
2020 Cut Throat City Demyra
2020 Emperor Delores
2020 Operation Christmas Drop Erica Miller
2022 Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie April O'Neil Main voice role
2022 Heatwave Claire Valens Also executive producer
2022 Love in the Villa Julie Hutton

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Lizzie McGuire Posse Member #2 Episode: "You're a Good Man, Lizzie McGuire"
2003 Strong Medicine Ashley Collins Episode: "Degeneration"
2003 Malcolm in the Middle Val Episode: "Watching the Baby"
2004 Joan of Arcadia Angela Episode: "No Bad Guy"
2004 Like Family Girl Episode: "Romancing the Home"
2004 Grounded for Life Laura Episode: "Psycho Therapy"
2006 The O.C. Kim Episode: "The Undertow"
2006 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Tisha Episode: "Poppin' Tags"
2007 Greek Dancer Episode: "The Rusty Nail"
2007 Hell on Earth Felicia Television film
2008–2009 Hannah Montana Allison 3 episodes
2008 Our First Christmas Bernie Television film
2009–2017 The Vampire Diaries Bonnie Bennett Main role
2012 Ridiculousness Herself Episode #2.12
2012 Oh Sit! Herself Episode #1.10
2013 Hell's Kitchen Herself Episode: "Winner Chosen"
2013 The Show with Vinny Herself Episode #1.7
2014 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Herself Episode #10.1
2015 Stalker Christine Harper Episode: "Love Kills"
2018–2020 Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles April O'Neil Main voice role
2019 Drop the Mic Herself Episode: "Kat Graham vs. Shameik Moore / Nikki Glaser vs. Brad Williams"
2019 Robot Chicken Alex Voice role;
Episode: "Garfield Stockman in: A Voice Like Wet Ham"
2020 Fashionably Yours Lauren Television film
2020–present Trolls: TrollsTopia Rhythm & Blues Main voice role
2021 Nickelodeon's Unfiltered Herself Episode: "Otter Docs & Polka Dots"
2022 The Masked Singer Robogirl Episode: "Muppets Night"

Discography

Studio albums

Title Year
Roxbury Drive
Love Music Funk Magic
Toro Gato: Part II (Deluxe Edition)
(as Toro Gato)
Long Hot Summer

Extended plays

Title Year Peak chart positions
US Heat
Remixes
Against the Wall 4
TORO GATO: PART I
(as Toro Gato)
  • Released: September 10, 2021
  • Label: Toro Gato
  • Formats: NFT
TORO GATO: PART II
(as Toro Gato)
  • Released: January 28, 2022
  • Label: Toro Gato
  • Formats: NFT

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US US Dance UK Pop Club
"I Want It All" 2010 Non-album singles
"Sassy"
"Cold Hearted Snake"
"Put Your Graffiti on Me" 2012 5 Against the Wall
"Wanna Say" 25
"Power" 2013 Non-album single
"1991" 2015 Roxbury Drive
"Secrets"
(featuring Babyface)
"All Your Love" 2016 Love Music Funk Magic
"Sometimes" 2017 4 6
"If Eye Could Get UR Attention" 2018 2
"SWIM"
(as Toro Gato)
2021 TORO GATO: PART I
"Oprah Rich" 2022 Long Hot Summer
"Long Hot Summer"

As featured artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US UK
"I Got It from My Mama"
(will.i.am featuring uncredited vocals by Kat Graham)
2007 31 38 Songs About Girls
"One More Chance"
(will.i.am featuring uncredited vocals by Kat Graham)
97
"The Donque Song"
(will.i.am featuring Snoop Dogg and uncredited vocals by Kat Graham)
"Dog Day Afternoon"
(Ras Kass with Doc Hollywood featuring Kat Graham and Dirt Nasty)
2012 Spit No Evil

Music videos

As lead artist

Title Year Director(s)
"Boom Kat" 2009 Adam Forstadt
"My Boyfriend's Back" Kevin Boston
"I Want It All" 2010 Lance Drake
"Sassy" Adam Forstadt and Paul Hogan
"Cold Hearted Snake" Kevin Boston
"Love Will Do Without An Escapade" 2011 Bille Woodruff
"Heartkiller" (Lyric Video) 2012 Roi Hernandez
"Put Your Graffiti on Me" Benny Boom
"Wanna Say" 2013
"Power" (Lyric Video) Kat Graham
"Power" Byron Atienza
"1991" 2015 Dano Cerny
"1991" (Cities at Night Remix Version) Laurence Shanet and Morgan Miller
"Secrets" Darren Genet
"Star F*cker" 2016 Roi Hernandez by Electric Giant Limited
"All Your Love" Darren Genet
"Sometimes" 2017 Marc Cleary and Oskar Rodriguez
"Magic" Dennis Leupold
"Time = $" 2018 Marc Cleary and Oskar Rodriguez
"Baby"
"Off"
"Just Luv Me"
"Glory" Marc Cleary
"Dia De Los Muertos"
"SWIM" 2021 Darren Genet ASC
"White Flag" 2022

As featured artist

Participation in music videos as actress, dancer, singer, etc.
Title Year Other artist(s) Director(s)
"Slacker" 2002 Tech N9ne Ben Mor
"Why I Love You" B2K Erik White
"Wanna B Where U R (ThisIzzaLuvSong)" 2003 Floetry featuring Mos Def Nzingha Stewart
"No L.O.V.E." Jhené Aiko None
"Salt Shaker" Ying Yang Twins featuring Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Nzingha Stewart
"The Way I Am" Knoc-Turn'al featuring Snoop Dogg Gil Green
"Used to Love U" 2004 John Legend Ben Mor
"Lonely" 2005 Akon Gil Green
"What If" 112 Fat Cats
"What You Want (When U Want It)" 2006 The Frontline Rock Jacobs
"B.U.D.D.Y." 2007 Musiq Soulchild Sanaa Hamri
"One More Chance" 2008 will.i.am Scott Speer
"Siempre Ausente" AKWID Sam Ketay and Zosimo Maximo
"Somebody to Love (Remix)" 2010 Justin Bieber featuring Usher Dave Meyers
"Just a Dream" Nelly Sanji
"Looking for Love" 2011 Diddy & Dirty Money featuring Usher Colin Tilley
"Broken Down" Kevin Hammond Tim Nackashi
"Black and Jewish (Black and Yellow Parody)" Kali Hawk and Kat Graham James Davis and Rachel Goldenberg
"Really Don't Care" 2014 Demi Lovato featuring Cher Lloyd Ryan Pallotta

Tour

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2010 Teen Choice Awards Scene Stealer Female The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2011 Teen Choice Awards The Vampire Diaries Won
Youth Rock Awards Rockin' Actress (TV) The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2012 Teen Choice Awards Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2013 Teen Choice Awards The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2014 Teen Choice Awards The Vampire Diaries Nominated
Black Women in Film Association Creative Award Contributions in the industry Won
2015 MTV Fandom Awards MTV Ship of The Year (with Ian Somerhalder) The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2015 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Chemistry (with Ian Somerhalder) The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2015 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Scene Stealer The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2016 Teen Choice Awards Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2016 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Chemistry (with Ian Somerhalder) The Vampire Diaries Nominated
2017 Teen Choice Awards Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress The Vampire Diaries Won
2019 Westfield Film Festival Humanitarian award Work with refugees, animals and human rights activism Won
2020 PETA: 40th Anniversary and Holiday Party Humanitarian Award Animal activism Won
2021 World Influencers and Bloggers Awards Human Rights Advocate Won

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