How Old Is Kiernan Shipka?

The Short Answer

Kiernan Shipka is 26 years old — born on November 10, 1999. That makes Kiernan Shipka one of the most-searched public figures for age-related questions, with fans regularly looking up birthday and family details.

Kiernan Shipka: Early Life and Background

Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), and Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix fantasy series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020) and the sixth season of The CW series Riverdale (2021–2022).

In addition to supporting roles in films such as Longlegs, Twisters, and The Last Showgirl (all in 2024), Shipka has also had starring roles in The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), Totally Killer (2023), and Sweethearts (2024), among others.

Early life

Kiernan Brennan Shipka was born on November 10, 1999, in Chicago, Illinois, to John Young Shipka, a real-estate developer, and Erin Ann Brennan. She is of mostly Irish and Slovak descent. She also has notable German, English, Scottish, and Italian heritage. Shipka started taking ballroom dancing classes at the age of five and was still attending classes as of March 2012. When she was six, her family relocated to Los Angeles to help with her acting career.

2000–2017: Beginnings and Mad Men

In April 2000, Shipka made her television debut at five months of age on the hospital drama ER. She started commercial-print modeling when she was a baby. After undertaking small television roles, her first major role was as Sally Draper, the daughter of main character Don Draper, on the 2007–2015 TV series Mad Men. She won the role after two auditions. She was a recurring guest star for the show's first three seasons, then became a series regular in season four.

As part of Mad Men's ensemble cast, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2008 and 2009. Shipka received praise for her performance on Mad Men. In 2010, Austin American-Statesman critic Dale Roe named her as his dream nominee for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, writing, "This 10-year-old actress was so affecting as troubled Sally Draper last season that it seems odd that she's only just been upgraded to series regular. If Shipka's upcoming Mad Men work—struggling with the broken marriage of her parents and entering preteendom in the tumultuous 1960s—remains as amazing as it was in season three, this is a ballot wish that could come true next year."

Beginning in 2012, Shipka voiced Jinora in the Nickelodeon animated series The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender. In 2014, Shipka was named one of "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" by Time magazine. That same year, IndieWire included her in their list of "20 Actors To Watch That Are Under 20". She starred in the 2014 Lifetime movie Flowers in the Attic, based on the 1979 novel of the same name by V. C. Andrews. The following year she co-starred with Emma Roberts in the Osgood Perkins horror film The Blackcoat's Daughter, and with Timothée Chalamet in the fantasy thriller One & Two. Additionally, she voiced the title character in the English dub of Studio Ghibli's When Marnie Was There. In 2017, Shipka portrayed B.D. Hyman, daughter of Bette Davis, in the FX television series Feud: Bette and Joan.

Career and Rise to Fame

2018–2021: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

In January 2018, Shipka was announced to be starring as Sabrina Spellman in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series based on the comic series of the same name. The first part was released by Netflix on October 26, 2018, and an episode that December. The show ran for three more parts, concluding on December 31, 2020, with a total of 36 episodes. Shipka reprised the role in two episodes of Riverdale, "Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Witching Hour(s)" and "Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen: The Witches of Riverdale", which aired on December 7, 2021, and July 10, 2022, respectively.

Shipka played a deaf teenager opposite Stanley Tucci in John R. Leonetti's horror film The Silence, based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Tim Lebbon. Netflix released the film on April 10, 2019. Shipka learned American Sign Language for the role and Leonetti praised her performance, saying: "She's acting alongside Stanley Tucci, and believe me, she's more than holding her own. It's been spellbinding watching her." That same year, Shipka co-starred in the Christmas romantic comedy film Let It Snow, based on the novel Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances.

2022–present: Further work

In 2022, Shipka starred alongside Diane Kruger in the psychological drama series Swimming with Sharks, inspired by the 1994 film of the same name. She also played Bea Johnson, the daughter of two intellectually disabled parents, in the drama Wildflower. The following year she appeared in the HBO political drama limited series White House Plumbers, portraying Kevan Hunt, daughter of E. Howard Hunt. In October 2023, Shipka starred alongside actress Olivia Holt in Amazon Prime Video's 1980s horror-comedy Totally Killer.

In July 2024, Shipka appeared in the horror thriller Longlegs, reuniting her with The Blackcoat's Daughter director Osgood Perkins. Later that year, she had supporting roles in the films Twisters, The Last Showgirl and Red One. In addition, she co-starred alongside Nico Hiraga in the Max romantic comedy Sweethearts, and in the thriller film Stone Cold Fox, which premiered in November 2025.

In 2026, she appeared in the fourth season of the HBO/BBC drama Industry. She also starred in the comedy film Idiots, which premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

She is set to star alongside Cole Sprouse in the romantic comedy Goodbye Girl, as well as The Nowhere Game, which will reunite her with Mckenna Grace, who portrayed the younger version of her character in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Age and Birthday Details

Kiernan Shipka was born on November 10, 1999.

As of 2026, Kiernan Shipka is 26 years old.

Birthday milestones for public figures like Kiernan Shipka routinely trend on social media, which is why "how old is" questions generate such consistent search demand.

Kiernan Shipka's Children

In addition to supporting roles in films such as Longlegs, Twisters, and The Last Showgirl (all in 2024), Shipka has also had starring roles in The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), Totally Killer (2023), and Sweethearts (2024), among others.

Personal Life and Relationships

Details of Kiernan Shipka's personal life and relationships, where publicly confirmed, are documented in reputable biographies and media coverage.

Recent Years

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Awards and nominations

Kiernan Brennan Shipka was born on November 10, 1999, in Chicago, Illinois. She began acting as a baby and was cast at age six as Sally Draper, the daughter of Don and Betty Draper, on AMC's prestige drama Mad Men. She grew up on screen across the show's seven seasons from 2007 to 2015, earning praise for a performance of unusual maturity and sharing in two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

During and after Mad Men, Shipka broadened her range with voice work as Jinora in Nickelodeon's The Legend of Korra and a starring role in the gothic television film Flowers in the Attic. She headlined Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, playing the title role across four seasons from 2018 to 2020, anchoring the darker reimagining of the teenage-witch story.

Her film work includes the horror features The Blackcoat's Daughter and Longlegs, the time-travel comedy Totally Killer, the drama The Last Showgirl, and the big-budget features Red One and Twisters. On television she has appeared in White House Plumbers and, in 2026, joined the cast of HBO's finance drama Industry as Hayley Clay for its fourth season, with the film Idiots opening in theaters in August 2026.

Shipka was homeschooled through an independent-study program because of her acting schedule and later took online college courses. She keeps her romantic life private; in a 2024 interview she described herself as single, and there is no reliable public confirmation that she has children.

Growing up on one of television's most acclaimed dramas shaped how audiences approach her work. Shipka has said she finds it strange that people always meet her first as the child she was on Mad Men, telling The Hollywood Reporter that Sally Draper still follows her into new roles. She credits her on-screen parents, January Jones and Jon Hamm, with motivating her to become a better actor as she dealt with the first flushes of fame, and has said she has no regrets about finding fame at a young age.

Frequently Asked Questions

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