Jennifer Proske (born August 8, 1987) is a

Canadian American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to Citizenship of the United States, American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can ...

actress, best known for portraying Becca Crane in the film '' Vampires Suck''.

Early life

Jenn Proske was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, to an American ex-professional dancer and a Canadian advertising creative director born in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, who owns a sandwich shop. She has a younger sister named Becca. Her family moved to

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

when she was four. There she became involved in stage shows for children: at six, she portrayed Ticklish the Dwarf in a new version of '' Snow White''. She kept on acting while attending

Tesoro High School Tesoro High School is a public high school in southern Orange County area of Las Flores, California, United States. Established in the fall of 2001, Tesoro is 1 of 6 regular high schools in the Capistrano Unified School District. As of the 2014� ...

. She spent six months in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

studying and working at the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

, led by

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...

and Andrew Upton. In May 2009 she graduated cum laude in Acting and Theatre Arts from the Boston University College of Fine Arts. Then, she left her job as a floral designer at the ''Saint Regis resort'' of Orange County and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to become an actress.

Career

After acting in several shows while in high school and college, Proske was hired for her first professional role in ''Steel Magnolias'' by Robert Harling, in 2008. She portrayed Shelby. In 2009, she portrayed Titania and

Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...

in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at ''Mysterium Theater'' of Santa Ana and had the role of Mariah in an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of ''Pope Joan''. She was hired for her first movie role in 2010, as Becca Crane — a parody of Bella Swan from the ''Twilight'' saga — in '' Vampires Suck''. She had originally been called for the role of Iris, the parody of Alice Cullen. ''Vampires Suck'' received almost universally negative reviews, but Proske's performance was praised by several critics. In 2011 she joined the short film ''The Infamous Exploits of Jack West'' and the pilot of the TV series ''Home Game'', which was never broadcast. In November, she was Serena, the raped daughter of a senator, in the eight and ninth episodes of the eight season of ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

''. In 2012, she was hired for the roles of Beth in the TV series ''

House of Lies ''House of Lies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Matthew Carnahan. The show, which premiered on Showtime on January 8, 2012, is based on the book ''House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell ...

'', of Dina Van Cleve in the TV movie ''

Sexting in Suburbia ''Sexting in Suburbia'' (sometimes called ''Shattered Silence'') is a 2012 Lifetime film directed by John Stimpson and starring Liz Vassey, Jenn Proske, Ryan Kelley and Kelli Goss. Plot The film opens as school pariah, Dina Van Cleve (Jenn P ...

'', directed by John Stimpson, and of Meghan Weller, a stage actress, in the episode ''Theatre Tricks'' of the thirteenth season of '' Law & Order: SVU''. She also portrayed Amanda Martino in the second episode of '' Major Crimes''. In August, she filmed the fourth episode of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

series ''

Beauty & the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...

''. In 2013, Proske portrayed Abby, an

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

girl who falls in love with

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Special Agent Mike Warren (

Aaron Tveit Aaron Kyle Tveit (; born October 21, 1983) is an American actor. Tveit originated the lead role of Christian the composer in the stage adaptation of ''Moulin Rouge!'' on Broadway, a performance for which he won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Acto ...

), in the TV series '' Graceland''.

Personal life

In 2012, Proske became engaged to actor Stephen Schneider. The wedding took place on May 26, 2013. On March 28, 2015, Proske gave birth to a daughter, Ava Morata Schneider. Upon marrying, Proske

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...

, her husband's faith.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Proske, Jenn 1987 births Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Slovenian descent Converts to Judaism Living people Actresses from Toronto 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Orange County, California Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Jewish Canadian actresses 21st-century Jews