Summary

• Jade Bender steadily built her career with small but impactful roles, showcasing her talent and dynamic range over the years.
• Despite playing similar-aged characters, Bender skillfully uncovers the nuances that make each role unique and memorable.
• Bender's breakout in "Senior Year" is a testament to her ability to handle critical parts in feature films with humor and heart.

Jade Bender may be best known currently for her breakout performance in Senior Year, but the young actor has steadily been expanding her presence in films and television shows since she was young, appearing in bit parts in notable series. Bender first began her acting career in 2010, at just 13 years old, appearing in an episode of Warren the Ape in a small role. She then took a hiatus from any major parts before returning to acting in 2015, embarking on a series of small performances in some fascinating projects.

Born on September 11, 1997, Bender has spent her high school and college years playing just that — teenage characters. It's not a typecasting, because the young people she plays are often very different, despite being from the same approximate age group and social background. She has an impressive insight into the tiny idiosyncracies that make young people tick and manages to uncover the little differences that make each of her characters unique. Beginning her career as a supporting player, the 2020s have seen Bender's star rise higher as she appears in major performances.

10 Honorable Mention Night School (2020)

Jade Bender Plays Mila (1 Episode, 2020)

Night School is a 2018 buddy comedy starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. That is not the project that Jade Bender appeared in, however. Her Night School was the pilot for a planned 2020 TV show based on the Hart and Haddish movie. Bender was set to play Mila, one of the young adults taking classes at the titular night school. Ordered in January 2020 as a multi-cam, half-hour comedy for NBC. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted filming in March 2020.

According to the studio, production would resume on its paused pilots in June 2020, including Night School. As the virus lingered on, that production pause became permanent, and in December 2020, it was officially announced by Variety that Night School would be canceled. Night School came in the years between Bender having small roles and her break-out in the cast of Senior Year, so it's an interesting "What if?" about what her career would look like had she found mainstream success two years earlier than she did.

Watch Night School the movie on Amazon Prime Video

9 Warren The Ape (2010)

Jade Bender Plays An Unnamed Character (1 Episode, 2010)

Warren the Ape is an adult, puppet-centric reality show parody on MTV. A spin-off of a similar series, Greg the Bunny, Warren the Ape, premiered in June 2010 and lasted for one season with 12 episodes before it was canceled. Sarah Silverman and Seth Green star as two human characters, but the show primarily focuses on Warren, the title primate, who is trying to get his career going again after years of mishaps and bad choices.

Bawdy and crude, it's a show very much of the era, poking fun at popular reality series like Jersey Shore, which had premiered a year earlier. Bender appears as an unnamed background character in episode 3 "Crash Course". It's the first role of her career and while she does not have much to do, her comfort appearing in an adult comic series signaled where her career would end up in the future.

Warren the Ape is available to buy on Amazon Prime Video.

8 Bad Night (2015)

Jade Bender Plays Jesse