Jordan Todosey ( , born February 8, 1995) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Adam Torres, the first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

character on the long-running TV series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', and as Lizzie McDonald on ''

Life with Derek ''Life with Derek'' is a Canadian television teen situation comedy that aired on Family Channel (English) and VRAK.TV (French) in Canada and on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on Family on September 18, 2005, and ran fo ...

''.

Early life

Todosey was born and raised in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

, Canada and began working as a child actor at a young age, making appearances in series such as ''

Instant Star ''Instant Star'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series starred Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experie ...

'' (2004–2008), ''

'' (2005–2009) and '' Flashpoint'' (2008–2012)''.''

Career

''Degrassi''

Linda Schuyler and Jordan Todosey at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

Todosey is perhaps best known for playing a transgender character, Adam Torres, in the ''Degrassi'' franchise, becoming the first actor to portray a transgender character in the show's 30-year history. For her performance, Todosey won a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

in 2011, for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series, and the two-part episode " My Body Is a Cage" has also been widely recognized, including winning a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 2011, citing that Todosey "beautifully portrayed" a transgender character. When Todosey's character was killed off from the series in 2013,

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

ensued, including a statement from

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

condemning the decision to kill off Todosey's character, while also calling Todosey's performance "authentic, multi-dimensional..."

Linda Schuyler Linda Schuyler, (; née Bawcutt; born February 12, 1948) is a Canadian television producer. She is best known for being the co-creator and producer of the ''Degrassi'' teen drama franchise, which has spanned five series over four decades. She i ...

, one of the show's creators, defended the choice to kill the character, saying in a statement that Todosey's storyline "will affect even more lives in an authentic way…"

Other work

Todosey played Lizzie McDonald in the series ''

'' and the spin-off movie ''

Vacation with Derek The following is a list of episodes of the Canadian sitcom ''Life with Derek'', which also appeared on Disney Channel. The show premiered on September 18, 2005 and ended its run on March 25, 2009, spanning 4 seasons, with 70 episodes produced. S ...

''. She also appeared in one episode of '' Flashpoint''; in ''

The Pacifier ''The Pacifier'' is a 2005 American family action comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant and stars Vin Diesel. After a failed rescue mission, Navy SEAL Shane Wolfe is assigned as babysitter to the ...

'' as a Firefly (

Girl Scout Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

); and in ''

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' is a 2005 American biographical film written and directed by Jane Anderson. It is based on the book by Terry Ryan, and stars Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Laura Dern. The film received a limited relea ...

'' as Tuff Ryan at 9 years old. She also voiced the main character, Willa, on the animated TV series ''

Willa's Wild Life ''Willa's Wild Life'' is an animated television series based on Dan Yaccarino's book '' An Octopus Followed Me Home.'' The series originally aired on Qubo in the United States (and has been put back on Qubo's schedule from 2019 to 2020), YTV i ...

''. She starred in ''Santa Baby'' as Amelia. In 2015, she co-starred with

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

and

Boo Boo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney television film franchise '' Descend ...

in the thriller '' He Never Died''. She is currently appearing as Tracey in '' Between'' and also recently appears in ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick B ...

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Todosey, Jordan 1995 births Actresses from Toronto Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses Canadian Screen Award winners Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses Twitch (service) streamers