From Kampala to the Capitol: Whitney Peak’s Star Turn in Sunrise on the Reaping and Beyond

At just 22 years old, Whitney Peak is the kind of talent who makes Hollywood insiders whisper about “next big things” with a mix of awe and envy. Born in the bustling heart of Kampala, Uganda, on January 28, 2003, Peak’s journey from competitive swimmer in a Ugandan boarding school to Chanel’s golden girl and The Hunger Games franchise darling reads like a script she’d star in herself. As the face of Coco Mademoiselle since 2023 and a breakout from HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot, Peak isn’t just riding the wave of Gen Z stardom—she’s cresting it, with a slate of 2025-2026 releases poised to cement her as one of the industry’s most magnetic forces. In a year that’s seen her juggle auditions, ads, and an off-Broadway debut, Peak’s poised for her biggest rebellion yet: igniting the screen as Lenore Dove Baird in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

Roots in Motion: A Childhood Spanning Continents

Peak’s story begins far from the red carpets she’s now owning. The youngest of four siblings, she grew up in Uganda as the daughter of a local hairdresser and a Canadian helicopter pilot and engineer. Life in Kampala was a whirlwind of family travels—tagging along on her father’s flights—and rigorous extracurriculars, including stints as a competitive swimmer at Hillside Primary School-Naalya. But in 2012, at age nine, everything shifted. The family relocated to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a move Peak later described as a “big culture shock” to People magazine, grappling with the stark contrasts between Uganda’s vibrant chaos and Canada’s quieter suburbs. Enrolled at Terry Fox Secondary School, she traded boarding school uniforms for public hallways, but the spark of performance was already flickering. “Acting was my escape,” she reflected in a 2020 Office Magazine profile, crediting early theater classes for turning homesickness into hustle.

By her mid-teens, Peak was dipping toes into the industry, starting with a production assistant gig on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that evolved into on-camera breaks. Her feature debut came in 2017’s Molly’s Game, Aaron Sorkin’s poker-faced directorial bow, where she held her own opposite Jessica Chastain as a young informant. From there, streaming giants came calling: Netflix’s dark twist on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2019-2020), where she bewitched as the spell-slinging Judith Blackwood, and Apple TV+’s Home Before Dark (2020), channeling pint-sized journalism in a role that earned her early Emmy buzz. But it was 2021 that flipped the switch—landing the lead as Zoya Lott in the Gossip Girl revival, Peak flew solo from Canada to a pandemic-bubble New York at 18, balancing high school via an on-set tutor hilariously named Nathaniel Archibald (a nod to the original series’ heartthrob). The show’s “huge fandom” was “overwhelming,” she admitted, but it catapulted her into A-list adjacency, co-starring with the likes of Jordan Alexander and Evan Mock.

Witchy Women and Witching Hour Wins

Peak’s post-Gossip Girl pivot leaned supernatural, fitting her poised intensity like a tailored corset. In Disney+’s Hocus Pocus 2 (2022), she ignited as Becca, the Halloween birthday girl whose spell mishap summons the Sanderson sisters back from the grave—opposite Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy, no less. “Becca’s curiosity mirrored my own,” Peak shared, her Ugandan roots infusing the role with a fresh cultural lens on American folklore. Off-screen, her star ascended the fashion echelons: Named Chanel’s U.S. brand ambassador in 2021, she fronted campaigns that blended Parisian polish with her effortless cool, culminating in her 2023 appointment as the face of Coco Mademoiselle—a scent she calls “elegant rebellion.” By 2025, those ads are still popping up on fans’ TVs, as one X user gushed last night: “Whitney Peak Chanel advert on my TV iktr MY lenore dove.”

This year, Peak’s doubling down on genre-bending grit. She’s tapped for Eye for an Eye (slated for 2025), a thriller that promises her in high-stakes revenge mode, per IMDb teases. But the real arena? Trap House, a crime drama dropping November 14—just days ago—where she dives into urban underbelly intrigue. “From spells to streets,” as one fan put it on X, capturing her chameleonic range. And let’s not forget her stage leap: This summer, she made her Broadway-adjacent debut in Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real opposite Pamela Anderson, trading screens for spotlights in a production that Air Mail hailed as “hungry to learn.” Peak, ever the polymath, called it “terrifying and thrilling—like jumping timelines.”

The Hunger Games Heist: Lenore and a Legacy Launchpad

April 2025 brought Peak’s golden ticket: Casting as Lenore Dove Baird, the cerebral love interest to young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, set for 2026. Penned by Suzanne Collins as a prequel to The Ballad of Songbirds & Snipers, it’s a tale of rebellion’s roots in District 12, with Peak’s Lenore as the sharp-witted anchor to Haymitch’s haunted heroism. “I was terrified” post-audition, she confessed to The Hollywood Reporter, but a pep talk from franchise sis Rachel Zegler—”gave me some love”—sealed her nerves. Lionsgate co-prez Erin Westerman praised her as carrying the torch with “heart, depth, and fire,” echoing the series’ history of launching Jennifer Lawrence and Amandla Stenberg.

Filming wrapped amid fan frenzy, with X ablaze over set leaks and Peak’s lollipop-flicking promo clip that had one user declaring, “if WHITNEY PEAK gave me her lollipop like that i would have asked her for her hand in marriage right there and then.” It’s not her only 2026 play: She’s also in the heist comedy 4 Kids and a Bank (April release), playing Joni J in a caper that flips Ocean’s 11 for the TikTok era. And whispers of Wait, Your Car?—Reece Feldman’s 2025 short where she slays as the paranoid Beth—continue to ripple from Cannes to HollyShorts, proving her indie cred.

The Peak Ahead: Modeling, Mentors, and Momentum

Beyond the marquee, Peak’s a cultural chameleon—her Instagram a mosaic of Vancouver hikes, Ugandan family feasts, and Chanel soirées. She’s vocal on representation, telling Radio Times how Gossip Girl let her “own the Upper East Side as a Black girl from abroad.” Mentors like Zegler and Anderson keep her grounded, while her “just hungry to learn” ethos (Air Mail) fuels the fire. As Trap House hits VOD and Sunrise looms, Peak’s not chasing peaks—she’s redefining them. In a town of typecasts, she’s the wildcard, the witch, the warrior. Watch out, Panem: Lenore Dove is here, and she’s got the whole world in her thrall.

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