Merit Leighton is an American actress and voice artist known for her work in both live-action and animated productions, including providing the English voice for the lead role of Hinako Mukaimizu in the anime film Ride Your Wave. Born on June 17, 2002, in Glendale, California, she began her acting career in childhood, with her first voice role being Lucinda the witch in the Disney Junior series Sofia the First.

Leighton's voice acting career expanded significantly with her role as Frosta in the critically acclaimed Netflix animated series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a Dreamworks production for which she voiced the character in twenty episodes. Her entry into anime voice acting came in 2019 when she was cast as the lead character, Hinako Mukaimizu, in the English dub of the Japanese animated film Ride Your Wave. Directed by Masaaki Yuasa and produced by Science SARU, the film provided Leighton with a significant dramatic role, voicing a young surfer navigating love and loss. She has continued to work in the English dubbing of anime, taking on the role of Ellie in the series Synduality: Noir and being cast as Hikari Wanda in the upcoming series Wandance. In addition to anime, her voice work in video games includes the role of Chidori Yoshino in the 2024 release Persona 3 Reload and Sugarfly Cookie in Cookie Run: Kingdom.

Beyond acting, Leighton is also an award-winning filmmaker for her animated short Planeman and a singer who has provided back-up vocals for Halsey and performed on the soundtrack for Disney's Sofia the First. She has a personal interest in Japanese culture and has studied the Japanese language. Leighton is open about being autistic and serves as a celebrity ambassador for The Jonathan Foundation, an organization that supports children with special needs.