CW’s ‘Nancy Drew’ Cast: 6 Fun Facts About Star Kennedy McMann

Who’s the actress playing the lead role on The CW’s new “Nancy Drew” show? That’s one mystery we can solve for everyone right now.

The network cast Kennedy McMann as the teenage sleuth for its adaptation of the classic novel series back in February, and in just a few hours fans will get to meet both the actress and her version of the iconic character.

If a few hours is too long to wait, keep reading to get to know McMann, the actress taking on the titular role, with a few fun facts ahead of the “Nancy Drew” Season 1 premiere tonight:

1. She went to school for acting.

The 22-year-old actress earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 2018.

2. Her family is full of other creatives.

Her mom, Lisa McMann, is a writer of young adult and children’s books and released her first novel, “Wake,” in 2008, which became the start of a series. She’s also written the “Unwanteds Quests,” “Going Wild,” “The Unwanteds” and “The Visions” series, along with a selection of standalone novels.

Her dad, Matt McMann, is signed by Michael Bourret at Dystel, Goderich and Bourret and has written two children’s books. According to his blog, as of February, he’s working on getting publishing deals for those novels.

Her brother, Kilian McMann, is an artist and works as a designer and illustrator. He runs a design company, Great Raven Design Co, as well as a Threadless shop featuring his prints.

3. This is her first series regular role.

Before nabbing the lead role in “Nancy Drew,” the actress guest-starred in a 2017 episode of the Chris Noth crime-drama, “Gone,” and a 2018 episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

4. She’s always been a big “Nancy Drew” fan.

Aside from telling a small group of reporters at New York Comic Con on Sunday that she’s a “superfan” of the books, McMann also revealed on social media that her love of the brand goes beyond the novels.

“The 12-year-old girl in me hogging the family computer playing Nancy Drew computer games and living out fantasies in her head about solving mysteries has been crying tears of joy for the past three days. An absolutely incomprehensible dream come true,” the star wrote on Instagram when the news of her casting was first revealed.

5. She’s engaged.

She first announced her engagement on Instagram in December before later posting another photo a few days later, in January, of her and her fiancé with a sweet caption.

“I truly do not know life without you and I hope it stays that way for the next 80 years (at least). I’m so excited to marry you,” the actress wrote.

6. She’s active on social media, but not on all platforms.

McMann often shares photos and videos to her Instagram feed and Instagram Stories — to just over 9,000 followers at the time of this article’s publication — but she doesn’t have a Twitter account for fans to follow her on.

Aside from McMann, the show’s cast also includes Scott Wolf (Carson Drew), Alex Saxon (Ace), Leah Lewis (George Fan), Maddison Jaizani (Bess Marvin), Tunji Kasim (Ned ”Nick” Nickerson), Riley Smith (Ryan Hudson) and Alvina August (Detective Karen Hart).

“Nancy Drew” premieres on The CW on Wednesday at 9 p.m. EDT.