Lilia Buckingham discovered her love for performing at a young age, doing musical theater, performing in local productions of Mamma Mia, High School Musical, Rent, Annie and many others. She then turned her passion toward competitive dancing with MNR Dance Factory, where she achieved numerous awards and titles and focused on Lyrical and Contemporary routines.
Along the way, Lilia grew a significant social media following and now has over 1.5 million followers on Instagram. She has utilized her platform to stand up for issues that she feels deeply about including body positivity, self-acceptance, anti-bullying, LGBTQ and human rights.
More recently, Lilia has been focusing on acting and writing. Her upcoming book, Influence, co-written with Sara Shephard (the author of the NYT #1 Bestseller Pretty Little Liars) is a juicy thriller set in the world of Social Media Influencers. The book will be published by Random House in Early 2020.
Lilia is also busy acting and producing. In addition to appearing on Good Morning America and Modern Family, Lilia’s most prominent work is with Brat, a digital network that produces a number of popular online teen dramas. Lilia’s performance on this platform has allowed her to reach a larger audience. Lilia has acted in many of Brat’s productions, including Spring Breakaway, Dirt, Total Eclipse, and Chicken Girls. She plays the character, Autumn, in all these productions.
Currently, Buckingham is Executive Producing Crown Lake, Brat’s newest most buzzed about show set in a 90’s boarding school and written by Sara Shephard, it stars Francesca Capaldi, Kyla Drew and Emily Skinner.
Though she is best known for her work on the Brat network, Lilia has also acted in more intensely messaged productions. In 2018, she starred in the short film, Voices, by Ella Fields. In this film, Lilia portrayed a young girl advocating for gun control, taking on a very mature role. Her acting career has stretched its way into the music industry as well, with her appearing in many music videos. She has acted in multiple music videos including Austin Brown’s hit, In Betweenin’, and Johnny Orlando and Mackenzie Ziegler’s 22 million viewed hit, Day & Night. Lilia and Emily Skinner debuted their single in November 2018 with their song, Denim Jacket.
One of Lilia Buckingham’s greatest achievements is founding Positively Social in 2018, a 501-c-3 helping to spread kindness and anti-bullying. Lilia founded the organization with Maddie Ziegler and Kenzie Ziegler as well as several of her friends. The organization provides information on best social media practices and speaks to local middle schools and youth organizations.