Vanessa Morgan Mziray (born March 23, 1992), known professionally as Vanessa Morgan, is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Beatrix "Bird" Castro in the

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 ...

teen drama series ''

Finding Carter ''Finding Carter'' is an American teen drama television series that aired on MTV for two seasons from July 8, 2014, to December 15, 2015. The series stars Kathryn Prescott as Carter Stevens, a teenage girl whose life is torn apart when she disco ...

'', as Amanda Pierce in the

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

teen comedy series ''

The Latest Buzz ''The Latest Buzz'' is a teen sitcom from Decode Entertainment that aired on Family Channel in Canada from September 1, 2007 to April 19, 2010. It was the network's first original multi-camera sitcom. In this series, a struggling youth magazine ...

'', and as Sarah in the

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 ...

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...

film ''

My Babysitter's a Vampire ''My Babysitter's a Vampire'' (released as ''My Babysitter's a Vampire: The Movie'' in some regions) is a 2010 Canadian comedy horror television film directed by Bruce McDonald. It stars Vanessa Morgan and Matthew Knight. The film's plot cente ...

'' and the television series of the same name. Since 2017, she has portrayed Toni Topaz in

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 ...

teen drama series '' Riverdale''.

Early life

Morgan was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. Her mother is Scottish and her father is

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

n. Morgan is the youngest of three children. She has two older siblings: an older sister and an older brother. Morgan began singing at the age of six. She sang at community events and telethons, performed for

Childhelp Childhelp is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Founded in 1959 as International Orphans, Inc. by Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, Childhelp is one of the largest non-profit child abuse prevent ...

, and was a regular guest entertainer for the College of the Desert scholarship foundation. She was spotted by a Hollywood agent in 1999 and earned a scholarship at a Hollywood acting academy. In 1999, Morgan won the Junior Miss America pageant and won first place vocalist at the National Date Festival. In 2000, she won first place in the African-American Vocal Competition. In her early life, she was a member of the competitive NTA tennis program at the Ottawa Athletic Club. Morgan graduated from

Colonel By Secondary School Colonel By Secondary School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school. It is located in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Gloucester in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a non-semestered school, and was the only English publi ...

in 2010 and studied philosophy at Queen's University.

Career

Acting

Morgan made her acting debut in the VH1 film '' A Diva's Christmas Carol'' in 2000 and another appearance in the film ''

Frankie & Alice ''Frankie & Alice'' is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Geoffrey Sax, starring Halle Berry. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2008, and ended in January 2009. To qualify for awards season, the film opened in a limited ...

'' in 2010. She became known in 2007 for her role as Amanda Pearce in the

teen comedy series ''

'' as well as performing the theme song for the series. She also played Marion Hawthorne in the 2010 Disney Channel film '' Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars''. The following year, Morgan played Sarah in the

film ''

'', as well in the television series of the same name. Morgan also appeared in the 2011 Disney Channel film ''

Geek Charming ''Geek Charming'' is a 2011 Disney Channel Original Movie directed by Jeffrey Hornaday from a screenplay by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy, based on the novel of the same name by Robin Palmer. The film stars Sarah Hyland and Matt Prokop. It p ...

''. She had a recurring role in season 2 of the Disney Channel comedy series ''

A.N.T. Farm ''A.N.T. Farm'' is an American teen sitcom which originally aired on Disney Channel from May 6, 2011 to March 21, 2014. It first aired on May 6, 2011, as a special one-episode preview and continued as a regular series starting on June 17, 201 ...

'' for four episodes. In 2013, Morgan appeared on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' for two episodes. In 2014, Morgan had a recurring role on the MTV show ''

'', playing Beatrix "Bird" Castro. In 2017, she joined the main cast of the fantasy drama series ''

The Shannara Chronicles ''The Shannara Chronicles'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. It is an adaptation of ''The Sword of Shannara'' trilogy of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. It follows three heroes as they pro ...

'' as Lyria for the second season on

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

. Morgan was then cast in the recurring role of Toni Topaz in

teen drama series '' Riverdale.'' On May 2, 2018, it was announced that Morgan would be a series regular for the show's third season.

Other work

Morgan competed in the first season of the CTV reality competition series ''

The Amazing Race Canada ''The Amazing Race Canada'' is a Canadian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Amazing Race'' franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race across Canada and aro ...

'' with her sister, Celina Mziray. They finished the race in third place.

Personal life

Kopech made a romantic proposal back in July 2019, during a hike in Havasu Falls, Arizona. On July 3, 2019, Morgan became engaged to professional baseball player

Michael Kopech Michael Talbert Kopech (born April 30, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2018. Kopech bats and throws right-handed. Amateur career Kopech attende ...

. They were married on January 4, 2020. On June 19, 2020, Kopech filed for divorce. On July 24, 2020, Morgan announced she was pregnant. As of December 2020, the divorce case was pending. In 2021, Morgan gave birth to a son.

Filmography

Discography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* *
Cast bios for ''Geek Charming'' – Vanessa Morgan "Hannah"
@ Disney Channel Medianet (October 2011 archive copy) {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Vanessa 1992 births 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Ottawa Black Canadian actresses Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian people of Tanzanian descent Canadian television actresses Living people The Amazing Race Canada contestants