Cassady McClincy Zhang is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Lydia on the AMC horror-drama television series The Walking Dead since 2019.
Life and career McClincy is from Atlanta, Georgia. Her younger sister, Callie, is also an actress.
She started taking dancing and theatre lessons at the age of 7. She started her career as a child actress at the age of 9.
McClincy has guest starred in Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva, NBC's Constantine, TNT's Good Behavior and Amazon Prime Video's original anthology series Lore. In 2017, she made recurring guest star appearances on the Netflix original series Ozark, the Hulu original series Castle Rock and VH1's Daytime Divas. In 2018, she had a role in Love, Simon as Jackie.
At the age of 17, McClincy began to portray Lydia in The Walking Dead during season 9 and became a series regular beginning with season 10.
Following the conclusion of The Walking Dead, McClincy was cast in the independent drama And Out Comes The Wolf, based on the Rancid 1995 album of the same name. In 2025, McClincy starred as Dani, a high school student pressured into becoming a police informant, in Merlin Camozzi's crime thriller The Snare, which premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival. Randy Myers of The Mercury News called her performance "impressive", and Glenn Kenny of The New York Times wrote that Dani is "played with a mastery of registers by Cassady McClincy Zhang".
In 2025, she was cast in a recurring role as Melanie "Mel" Day on the CBS action drama Tracker alongside Fiona Rene; she was promoted to series regular for the show's fourth season.
McClincy Zhang is also a vocalist. In 2022, she had two shows at a Jazz Club in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes2015Crimes and Mister MeanorsKat2018Love, SimonJackiePoor JaneErica2025And Out Comes The WolfRude Girl Carol2025The SnareDani
Television YearTitleRoleNotes2010The Wizard of AgniMunchkin BobbiTelevision filmFive Smooth StonesSchoolgirl / Soccer PlayerTelevision short 2013Sid Roth's It's Supernatural Troubled TeenEpisode: "Karen Wheaton"2014Drop Dead DivaLaura DwyerEpisode: "Sister Act"Let the Lion RoarMaryDocumentary2015ConstantineAmberlyEpisode: "Waiting for the Man"BacktrackMilly PnewskiTelevision short2016Good BehaviorAshleighEpisode: "We Pretend We're Stuck"2017OzarkAnna SloanEpisode: "Book of Ruth"Daytime DivasTandy AinsleyRecurring (Season 1)LoreGreta HetfelderzEpisode: "The Beast Within"The VisitorYoung AngieTelevision short2018Castle RockYoung Molly StrandRecurring (Season 1)2019–2022The Walking DeadLydiaRecurring (Season 9), also starring (Seasons 10–11), main (Season 11); 33 episodes2024–2025Chicago MedAriel Sparkman2 episodes2025–presentTrackerMelanie "Mel" DayRecurring (Season 3); Series Regular (Season 4)
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