Kandyse McClure was born on March 22, 1980 in Durban, South Africa. She started acting in 1999, appearing as one of the leads alongside Lou Diamond Phillips in the television movie In a Class of Her Own. She gained wider popularity when she joined the Canadian teen series Higher Ground. The series, which premiered in 2000, saw her play the role of Katherine Ann Cabot, an African-American adopted by white parents who nevertheless feels alienated with her surroundings. She also became popular for her role in the teen comedy Just Deal, which premiered in the same year. Also in that year, she got a recurring role in the Canadian drama series Da Vinci’s Inquest, which starred Nicholas Campbell.
In 2002, she got a recurring role in the science fiction series Jeremiah. She played the role of Elizabeth Munroe, a resident of Thunder Mountain, a community of survivors of a deadly virus. She encounters leads Jeremiah (Luke Perry) and Kurdy Malloy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) when they tell her that her boyfriend has died. The series ran for two seasons and halted production after creative differences between the producers and the show’s creator, J. Michael Straczynski. She also starred in the television movie Carrie, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, in 2002; she earned critical applause for her portrayal of one of the lead characters.
In 2003, McClure joined the cast of the science fiction miniseries Battlestar Galactica. She played the role of Anastasia Dualla, a petty officer onboard the Galactica, whose enlistment into the Colonial Fleet strained the relationship between her and her father, who was against it. She reprised the role in the resulting television series, which first aired the following year; her character started a relationship with presidential aide Billy Keikeya (Paul Campbell). McClure also appeared in other television shows, such as Whistler, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, Smallville and Reaper.