Lauren Felice Collins (born August 29, 1986) is a Canadian actress, best known for portraying

Paige Michalchuk '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore. The series is now considered the first incarnation and premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001, and then ended on MTV Canada and ...

on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. She has also had supporting roles in the films ''

Take the Lead ''Take the Lead'' is a 2006 American drama dance film directed by Liz Friedlander and starring Antonio Banderas as dance instructor Pierre Dulaine, the founder of Dancing Classrooms. It also stars Alfre Woodard, John Ortiz, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCos ...

'' (2006) and ''

Charlie Bartlett ''Charlie Bartlett'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Jon Poll. The screenplay by Gustin Nash focuses on a teenager who begins to dispense therapeutic advice and prescription drugs to the student body at his new high school in or ...

'' (2007). In 2013, she appeared in multiple episodes of the sketch comedy ''

Kroll Show ''Kroll Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by and starring comedian Nick Kroll. John Levenstein and Jonathan Krisel served as the show's executive producers. The series aired on the American cable television network ...

'', as well as a recurring guest role in the fourth season of the FX series ''

The Strain ''The Strain'' is a 2009 vampire horror novel by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It is the first installment in ''The Strain Trilogy'', and was followed by '' The Fall'' (2010) and ''The Night Eternal'' (2011). Plot synopsis A Boeing 77 ...

'' (2017).

Early life

Collins was born in

Thornhill, Ontario Thornhill is a suburban district in the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada, split between the City of Vaughan (its western portion) and the City of Markham (its eastern portion), with Yonge Street forming the municipal boundary. Tho ...

, the daughter of Sari (née Bresver) and Stan Collins. Her father was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. Collins was raised Jewish. She has one brother, and her first cousin once-removed is Spencer Rice, one of the stars of ''

Kenny vs Spenny ''Kenny vs. Spenny'' is a Canadian reality comedy television series starring Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice, where they face against each other in competitions. The loser of each episode performs an act of humiliation, usually selected by the winne ...

''. She is a graduate of

Thornlea Secondary School Thornlea Secondary School is a public high school, in the Regional Municipality of York, that opened in 1968 and is located in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, on the northeast corner of Bayview Avenue and Willowbrook Road, just south of Highway 407. ...

Career

Collins first began acting in 1998, with roles in various television series including '' Once a Thief'', '' Noddy'' and ''

I Was a Sixth Grade Alien ''I Was a Sixth Grade Alien!'' (known as ''My Best Friend is an Alien!'' in the UK and Australia) is a Canadian children's science fiction comedy television series following the chronicles of Pleskit, a purple-skinned, blue-haired alien with an an ...

''. From 2000 to 2001, she had a recurring role on '' In a Heartbeat'' before landing the role of Paige Michalchuk on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' in 2001. She also portrayed Derek's ex-girlfriend Kendra 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 ...

''. She has also appeared in numerous theatrical productions, playing the title roles in ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'' and the production of ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'', and starring in the made-for-television film ''Virtual Mom''. In 2006, Collins made her feature film debut in ''

'', appearing alongside

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

. The following year she appeared in ''

'' (starring

Anton Yelchin Anton Viktorovich Yelchin ( rus, Антон Викторович Ельчин, p=ɐnˈton ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtɕɪn; March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016) was an American actor. Born in the Soviet Union to a Russian Jewish family, he emigr ...

and

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

). In 2008, she co-starred in the direct-to-DVD feature '' Picture This'', opposite

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

and fellow ''Degrassi'' alumnus

Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes-Beech (; born October 24, 1989), previously credited as Shenae Grimes, is a Canadian actress. She portrayed Annie Wilson on The CW series '' 90210'', a spin-off of Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Prior to that, she had a recurring ...

. After

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

celebrity

Shane Dawson Shane Lee Yaw (born July 19, 1988), better known as Shane Dawson, is an American YouTuber, actor, fimmaker, writer, and musician. One of the first people to rise to fame on YouTube, he began making videos in 2008 at the age of 19 and garnered ...

expressed his interest in watching the ''Degrassi'' series, Collins starred in
parody video
released March 6, 2010. She once again worked with

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

and Tisdale on the 2011 ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, th ...

'' spin-off feature, ''

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure ''Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure'' is a 2011 American direct-to-video musical romantic comedy film and ''High School Musical'' spin-off starring Ashley Tisdale. The film looks at Sharpay Evans' life after graduation, trying to obtain a role in a Br ...

'', playing the role of Tiffani. From 2013 to 2014, Collins hosted

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

1 Girl 5 Gays ''1 Girl 5 Gays'', sometimes abbreviated as ''1g5g'', was a Canadian talk show that premiered on October 14, 2009, on MTV Canada. In October 2010, gay-interest sister network Logo picked up the program, and started airing it in the United States. ...

'' replacing

Aliya Jasmine Sovani Aliya-Jasmine "AJ" Sovani (born November 18, 1981) is a television broadcaster and producer, initially known for her work on MTV. She is currently working as a host for NBC. Career Before working at MTV, Sovani was a producer at MuchMusic, and ha ...

, who had been hosting the show for 4 seasons. In 2014, she co-wrote and starred in the short film ''Zero Recognition'', directed by Ben Lewis, which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

. Between 2013 and 2014, Collins appeared in four episodes of the sketch comedy series ''

''.

Personal life

Collins and actor

Jonathan Malen Jonathan Malen is a Canadian actor, best known for providing the voice for Jimmy Z in ''Wild Kratts''. Personal life Jonathan Malen and actress Lauren Collins Lauren Felice Collins (born August 29, 1986) is a Canadian actress, best known f ...

married in October 2018. Collins revealed on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that she gave birth to a boy named Charlie Sebastian Malen on March 6, 2020. On January 1st, 2023, she announced via

that she and her husband were expecting another baby, due spring 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Lauren 1986 births 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Ontario Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian people of English descent Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses Jewish Canadian actresses Living people People from Thornhill, Ontario