On the Young Sheldon episode “A Solo Peanut, a Social Butterfly and the Truth,” while Georgie (Montana Jordan) comes clean to his older girlfriend, TV “weathergirl” Mandy (Emily Osment), Sheldon (Iain Armitage) acquiesces when his old friend Paige (McKenna Grace) asks if she can hide in his bedroom.
When not playing Paige on Young Sheldon, McKenna Grace is either filming The Bad Seed Returns with Rob Lowe (Grace co-wrote the script based on the famous play) or getting ready to film her new project, the biopic Perfect, with Hollywood movie star turned director Olivia Wilde (Booksmart, Don’t Worry Darling).
Perfect is based on the true story of American gymnast Kerri Strug (photo above). She was part of the “Magnificent Seven” who won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. The screenplay is based on Strug’s 1997 memoir Landing on My Feet: A Diary of Dreams, written with John P. Lopez.
Strug famously performed the vault despite having injured her ankle and was carried to the podium by her coach Bela Karolyi. McKenna Grace plays Strug’s teammate, gymnast Dominique Moceanu (in photo above, Dominique is on the bottom right corner).
Above is footage of Dominique at the age of 14 on the uneven bars at the 1996 Olympics. “She’s tiny but she can fly,” says one of the announcers before Dominique nails the landing.
Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8 pm on CBS.
