Childhood
Nikki Hahn was born on November 13, 2002 in Nevada, Texas, to middle class parents. When she was 3 years old, her family shifted to Los Angeles where little Nikki got the exposure to the American entertainment industry for the first time in her life. Her mother Alma Hahn loved to dress her up whenever she took her out. Her father worked as a web developer and a part time musician.
One day Alma was out with Nikki, who was dressed up in a beautiful gown. She came across a lady who worked in the entertainment business and suggested Alma that she must send Nikki’s pictures to an advertisement agency. Hence, Alma started getting Nikki photographed and sent the photos to different advertisement agencies.
A few days later, Alma received a call from LA Talent/ LA Models and she was offered a contract by the agency. Her first job as a child model was in print for Disney Easter’s Best Nationwide Campaign. She was a hit and her first televised commercial was also with Disney, where she was presented as a young Cinderella.
While she worked with LA Talent/LA Models for the next four years, she received numerous offers to star in commercials for many big companies. As a child model, she appeared in TV advertisements for brands such as Diesel, Converse, Agatha Ruiz de La Prada and Little Marc Jacobs. By the time she turned 7, she had started auditioning for films and TV series. She struggled initially, following which her mother decided to find another talent agency that would better represent Nikki.
She joined Abrams Artists and later went with Paradigm Agency and quickly she started landing small TV roles by 2009.
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Career
Her acting career started in the year 2009 at the age of 7 when she made a small appearance in ‘CSI: Miami.’ In the episode she played the role of Maggie Rush, a little girl whose parents were fighting for her custody. In the same year, she followed her debut television appearance with another crime drama ‘NCIS: Los Angeles.’ She played the role of Ellie Johnson, whose uncle was one of the suspects in a murder investigation.
These small roles didn’t do much for her as far as wide industry exposure was concerned. However, she got some experience in facing the camera which she later exhibited when she started getting better roles.
In 2010, she appeared in ‘Criminal Minds’ and ‘iCarly.’ In both of the shows, she played minor roles which were hardly noticeable. She also made a one episode long appearance in ‘Closer’, where she played the role of Cody Tatem, a helpless daughter whose mother was a drug addict and possibly a suicide victim.
2011 came as the breakthrough year for her career. She played Hollywood A-Grade actor Tom Hanks’ peasant daughter Sophie in a comedy skit that ran for four episodes on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ It happens to be one of the most watched and longest running talk shows on American television and her appearance with a Hollywood superstar brought her into the mainstream limelight. She followed it with another comedy skit, where she played Topher Grace’s childhood friend.
In 2011, she played a small role in ‘Wilfred’, the American remake of an Australian show. She appeared in the first season’s episode titled ‘Acceptance.’ In the same year, she made her full length film debut with the film ‘We Have your Husband.’ Nikki played one of the main roles of Maria Valseca in the TV film which was based on the book ‘We Have Your Husband: One Woman’s Terrifying Story of a Kidnapping in Mexico.’
In 2012, Nikki played single episode roles in the series’ ‘Childrens Hospital’, ‘Jessie’ and ‘American Horror Story: Asylum.’ In the same year, she played one of the key roles in Hallmark’s television film ‘Matchmaker Santa.’
In 2013, she appeared in Disney’s made for television film ‘The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex.’ The film was based on the highly successful Disney series ‘The Wizards of Waverly Place.’ Nikki played the role of Bianca in the film which was highly successful when it was telecasted on Disney channel. Her role as leading character Alex’s Italian relative and a budding magician was appreciated.
In the same year, Nikki was seen playing a small role in the comedy dramas series ‘Hart of Dixie.’ Next she went on appearing in ‘Pretty Little Liars’ for the episode titled ‘A is for A-l-i-v-e’ and a Hallmark TV film ‘Second Chances.’ Towards the end of the year, she made her big screen debut with the film ‘The Secret Lives of Dorks’, where she played a minor role as Gale Sara Ralph.
In 2014, Nikki appeared in one episode of the series ‘The Fosters’ titled ‘Cadre.’ She played the role of 10 year old version of Callie, one of the leading characters on the show. In the same year, she appeared in series ‘The Night Shift’ for one episode titled ‘Hog Wild’ where she played the role of Kylie. She ended the year with a key role in the short film ‘Riding 79’ as Sunny.
She started 2015 with another short film ‘Venom Therapy’ where she portrayed the role of Greta Kiku Arata. In the next year, she finally earned the breakthrough role of her acting career.
In Disney’s television film ‘Adventures in Babysitting’, she played one of the leading roles as Emily Cooper. The film was broadcasted on Disney channel in USA and Canada attracting a decent number of viewers. In 2016, she also appeared as a major character in the film ‘The Remains’, the first horror film of her career.
In 2017, she played the role of Crystal in the film ‘Scales: Mermaids are Real’ and in 2018, she was seen playing the role of Gina in the second season of sitcom ‘American Housewife.’
