Brooklyn Nelson (born 2003 or 2004) is an American actress. Born in Huntington, West Virginia, Nelson began acting as a child in a local theater production of The Little Mermaid Jr. at age eight. She made her professional debut on Broadway as a small girl swing^{[lower-alpha 1]} in Matilda the Musical in 2015. In 2018, she returned to Broadway as young Elsa in the stage adaptation of Disney's Frozen; she had initially played the role in the 2017 Denver pre-Broadway tryout, garnering critical praise. Nelson also lent her voice to the English dub of the characters of Nazuna Oikawa and Medmel in Fireworks (2017) and Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018), respectively.

Nelson was born in Huntington, West Virginia,^[3] to Tara and Todd Nelson. She has a younger sister, Lacey.^[4] Nelson became passionate about theater at the age of eight, when she landed a role in The Little Mermaid Jr. at Huntington's First Stage Theater.^[1] She later appeared in several local productions by First Stage, Curtain Up Players, and the Huntington Regional Theater.^[1][4][5] Nelson expressed interest in becoming a Broadway actress after seeing a performance of Matilda the Musical.^[1][5] She attended Village of Barboursville Elementary School and Barboursville Middle School.^[5][1] She remained enrolled in the latter while rehearsing and performing Frozen; her schoolwork was done online.^[4]

After Nelson expressed interest in performing on Broadway, her mother searched for open casting calls on the internet.^[1] In April 2015, she auditioned for Matilda the Musical;^[5] she was cast after multiple callbacks.^[1] She rehearsed for eight to nine hours a day for six weeks to familiarize herself with the show's choreography and music.^[5] Her 16-month run in Matilda the Musical began in September 2015 at age 11, where she was a small girl swing,^{[lower-alpha 1]} shifting between the roles of Lavender and Amanda Thripp. She eventually moved fully onto the role of Amanda.^[1][5][6]

In February 2017, Nelson attended an audition for Disney's Frozen, a Broadway adaptation of the 2013 film of the same name. After three callbacks, she was cast as young Elsa.^[1] For several weeks, Nelson attended rehearsals for approximately eight hours a day, six days a week, during which she was tutored and did her schoolwork.^[4] An older sister herself, Nelson took inspiration from her real-life dynamics with her younger sister and family. She first played the role in the Denver tryout in 2017, sharing it with Ayla Schwartz.^[1] Reception towards the show was mixed, though the cast garnered praise.^[7] Critics commended Nelson's performance,^[8][9] with Variety stating: "The grown actresses [playing Anna and Elsa] are matched pound for wee pound by the youngsters playing Anna and Elsa as girls. ... Nelson captures a big sister's kind attentiveness and, later, her guilt at accidentally harming [Anna]."^[10] In March 2018, she and Schwartz originated the role on Broadway.^[4] She appeared in four of the production's eight weekly performances.^[1] She left the cast at the end of April 2018.^[6] Nelson also sang on the play's Broadway cast recording, which was released in May.^[11][12]

In 2017, Nelson voiced Nazuna Oikawa in the English dub of anime film Fireworks,^[13] which received mixed reviews.^[14] Her second voice role came in 2018's Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, another anime film, in which she provided the English dub for the character of Medmel.^[15] The same year, Nelson appeared as the titular character in Megan's Christmas Miracle, starring opposite Dean Cain.^[3][16]