Carla Jeffery, Who Played Bree in Disney’s ‘Zombies’ Movies, Has Died at 33

03 Sep 2026, 10:25 · Thought Catalog

Momodu Mansaray / Getty Images

Updated 18 seconds ago, September 3, 2026

Carla Jeffery had been acting since she was a kid, and by the time she landed Bree in Disney’s “Zombies” at 25 she was already living with epilepsy she’d kept quiet for years. Her talent management confirmed she died on September 1 at 33.

Carla Jeffery on the red carpet for Disney’s “Mulan” premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 9, 2020. Photo by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images.

Jeffery died on September 1, 2026, at 33, her management confirmed in a statement shared to her official Instagram. The cause has not been announced.

“Carla joined the Alexanders Talent Management family at the age of 12,” wrote Carla Alexander of Alexanders Talent Management. “For more than 20 years, we had the privilege of watching her grow into a beautiful, vibrant, and incredibly talented woman whose radiant smile could light up any room.” Alexander added that she was “more than a client; she was family.”

Jeffery was born in Houston on July 10, 1993, and had her first film role at 13, playing the young version of Mo’Nique’s character in 2006’s “Phat Girlz.”

Before “Zombies,” she stacked up TV credits: a recurring role as Keysha Black on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and guest spots on “iCarly,” “Good Luck Charlie,” “Shake It Up,” “Southland,” “Scream Queens,” and “American Vandal.” She landed Bree in the first “Zombies” in 2018, then returned for “Zombies 2” and “Zombies 3” and voiced the character in the animated shorts.

Wearing a blush floral tulle gown, Carla Jeffery smiles at the Los Angeles premiere of “Zombies 3” at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on July 9, 2022. Photo by Emma McIntyre / Getty Images.

She sat out “Zombies 4” but showed up to the 2025 premiere. Her twin brother, Carlon Jeffery, was a Disney kid too, on “A.N.T. Farm.”

At Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, Carla Jeffery threw up peace signs during the July 27, 2022 red carpet arrivals for the Disney+ “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” Season 3 premiere. Photo by Momodu Mansaray / Getty Images.

Jeffery’s seizures started around 18, and she kept the diagnosis quiet at first, worried it would cost her work. While filming the first “Zombies,” she had a seizure on set and woke up in an ambulance.

That was the turn. In 2022, during Disability Pride Month, she did a cover story with the Epilepsy Foundation and a Disney Channel PSA under the banner “Letting It Be Known! I’m Carla Jeffery & I Have Epilepsy,” saying the condition wasn’t going away and she’d rather use her story to help other people stop hiding. The Cameron Boyce Foundation, named for the Disney actor who died of SUDEP in 2019, said she’d been an advocate for the epilepsy community.

Carla Jeffery poses alongside co-stars Kylee Russell and Meg Donnelly at the Disney Channel “Zombies” premiere, held at Walt Disney Studio Lot in Burbank on February 3, 2018. Photo by Michael Tran / Getty Images.

Her co-stars filled the comments. Milo Manheim called her “the sweetest person I have ever met,” and Chandler Kinney wrote that she was “the brightest shining light in any room she walked into. the kindest person you’d ever meet. the most beautiful soul. this doesn’t feel real….. 💔”

Disney Entertainment Television said her “extraordinary talent, warmth and spirit left an indelible mark on everyone who had the privilege of working with her.”

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