Lynn Collins
{{short description|American actress}}
{{distinguish|text=the soul singer Lyn Collins}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lynn Collins
| image = LynnCollinsApr09.jpg
| caption = Collins at the X-Men Origins: Wolverine premiere, April 2009
| birth_name = Viola Lynn Collins
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|5|16}}
| birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.
| education = Juilliard School (BFA)
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1999–present
| spouse = {{ubl
|{{marriage|Steven Strait|2007|2013|reason=div.}}
|{{marriage|Matthew Boyle|2014|2016|reason=div.}}
}}
| children = 1
}}
Viola Lynn Collins (born May 16, 1977) is an American actress. She has made television appearances in True Blood (2008), Manhunt: Unabomber (2017) and The Walking Dead (2021–2022), and is recognized for her roles in films such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and John Carter (2012).
Youth and education
Viola Lynn Collins was born in College Station, Texas,{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Lynn Collins - Biography |url=http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/341397/Lynn-Collins/biography |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127062120/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/341397/Lynn-Collins/biography |archive-date=November 27, 2015 |access-date=October 20, 2024 |publisher=Baseline StudioSystems |via=The New York Times}} on May 16, 1977.Ancestry.com. Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903-1997. Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2005. Collins has claimed English, Scottish, Irish, and Cherokee ancestry.{{cite news |last=Millar |first=John |date=March 4, 2012 |title=Classic Actress Turns Alien Princess for Out-of-this-World Movie Epic 'John Carter' |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2012/03/04/classic-actress-turns-alien-princess-for-out-of-this-world-movie-epic-john-carter-86908-23774802/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306235254/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2012/03/04/classic-actress-turns-alien-princess-for-out-of-this-world-movie-epic-john-carter-86908-23774802/ |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |access-date=October 22, 2024 |work=Daily Record |location=Glasgow, Scotland |quote= }}{{cite web |last=Ryan |first=Mike |date=March 9, 2012 |title=Lynn Collins, 'John Carter' Star, Cried While Reading the Script (In a Good Way) |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/lynn-collins-john-carter_n_1335311.html |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=March 11, 2012 |work=The Huffington Post |publisher=BuzzFeed }} Collins grew up in Houston, Texas, and lived in Singapore from ages 4 to 10.{{Cite news |last=Ramsey |first=Nancy |date=December 26, 2004 |title=The trials of a young talent |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-26-ca-collins26-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 20, 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite journal |author=Barna, Ben |date=March 7, 2012 |title=Lynn Collins is Ready to Blast-Off in the Epic 'John Carter' |url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/lynn-collins-is-ready-to-blast-off-in-the-epic-john-carter-1.45666 |url-status=dead |journal=BlackBook [BlackBookMag.com] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512221956/http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/lynn-collins-is-ready-to-blast-off-in-the-epic-john-carter-1.45666 |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |access-date=2016-08-12 |quote=When you're a functioning alcoholic, you can hide it. And I was young enough that it didn't show in my face. But it got to a point where somebody was like, it's not cute anymore, and I was like, Oh God. |df=mdy}} She also spent several summers in Japan.{{cite web |last=Busch |first=Jenna |date=March 9, 2012 |title='John Carter': Lynn Collins on Female Warriors, Actor Slapping |url=http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/03/john-carter-lynn-collins-on-female-warriors-actor-slapping.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312025039/http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/03/john-carter-lynn-collins-on-female-warriors-actor-slapping.html |archive-date=March 12, 2012 |access-date=March 11, 2012 |website=Zap2it.com |publisher=Nexstar Media Group }} During a childhood Christmas pageant in which she played Mrs. Claus, Collins discovered her love for acting.{{cite web |title=Top 99 Women, 2012 Edition: Lynn Collins |url=http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/actress/lynn-collins/index.html |website=AskMen.com |access-date=2012-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313013254/http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/actress/lynn-collins/index.html |archive-date=March 13, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy |last1=Murphy |first1=Ryan }}{{better source needed|date=August 2016}}
She attended Singapore American School and Klein High School in Texas.{{Citation needed |date=May 2021}} She moved to New York City at the age of 17 to enroll at Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 28: 1995–1999), where she graduated in 1999{{cite web | url = http://www.juilliard.edu/alumni/news/news_decades/2007-2008/0805/index.php | title = Alumni News | publisher = The Juilliard School | date = May 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111111115436/http://juilliard.edu/alumni/news/news_decades/2007-2008/0805/index.php | archive-date = 2011-11-11}} with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
Career
Collins made her television debut in 1999, in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and went on to star onstage as Ophelia opposite Liev Schreiber in Hamlet, followed by a turn as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.{{better source needed|date=August 2016}} After bit parts that included a stint on the show Haunted and roles in the movies Down with Love, 50 First Dates and 13 Going on 30,{{better source needed|date=August 2016}} she gained notice in the film The Merchant of Venice as the female lead Portia, alongside Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons,{{better source needed|date=August 2016}} Collins' audition tape for the supporting role of Jessica having so impressed director Michael Radford that—upon Cate Blanchett's opting out as Portia (due to pregnancy)—Radford had championed Collins becoming Blanchett's replacement.New York Daily News 26 December 2004 "Power to Her Portia: actress Lynn Collins breaks out in Merchant of Venice film" by John Clark p.11 (Sunday Now)Philadelphia Inquirer January 28, 2005 "Onscreen: a Merchant of fine measure" by Carrie Rickey p.W3
She furthered her profile in 2008 when she was cast as Jason Stackhouse's girlfriend Dawn Green in the first season of the HBO vampire series True Blood, and through a featured role as the hero's love interest Kayla Silverfox in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman. Her first leading film role came in 2012 when she was cast as the headstrong Martian princess Dejah Thoris in John Carter.{{cite news|first=Borys |last=Kit |date=June 12, 2009 |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taylor-kitsch-lynn-collins-blast-85335 |title=Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins blast off to Mars |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=2009-06-12}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/07/2680777/lynn-collins-is-john-carters-warrior.html |last=Marr |first=Madeleine |title=Lynn Collins is 'John Carter's' Warrior Princess |publisher=McClatchy Newspapers |newspaper=The Miami Herald |date=March 7, 2012 |access-date=2012-03-11 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120311171239/http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/07/2680777/lynn-collins-is-john-carters-warrior.html |archive-date=March 11, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}
Personal life
Collins married Steven Strait on December 23, 2007,{{Cite web |last=Gelt |first=Jessica |date=September 9, 2000 |title=Supper Club, where dining is a class act |url=http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-supperclub9-2009sep09,0,5990409.story |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204123519/http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-supperclub9-2009sep09%2C0%2C5990409.story |archive-date=February 4, 2011 |website=Los Angeles Times |quote=Other sun-soaked Hollywood guests included actress Lynn Collins ('True Blood' and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine') and her husband, actor Steven Strait.... |df=mdy-all}} after a four-year relationship. Collins and Strait separated in 2013.{{Cite web|last=Chaudhary|first=Rakesh|title=Steven Strait Felt No Compunctions about Dating Actresses after Divorce with Wife Lynn Collins|url=https://hollywoodmask.com/relationship/steven-strait-wife.html|access-date=2021-08-04|website=hollywoodmask|language=en}}{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
She married Matthew Boyle in November 2014. They divorced in 2016. They have a son.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
In 2009, she posed nude for the May issue of Allure magazine.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090416110546/http://www.allure.com/magazine/2009/05/nudes The Naked Truth: Five Celebrities Bare It All] Allure. Archived on April 15, 2009.
Collins was raised in a "very, very religious" family of Southern Baptists, and has since explored several religious faiths, describing herself as a "pretty spiritual person."{{Cite news |last=Fanning |first=Evan |title=Down to Earth with the Most Beautiful Woman in the Universe |work=The Independent |location=UK |url=http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/down-to-earth-with-the-most-beautiful-woman-in-the-universe-3053820.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705222349/http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/down-to-earth-with-the-most-beautiful-woman-in-the-universe-3053820.html |archive-date=July 5, 2012 |df=mdy}}
Filmography
{{BLP sources section|date = March 2022}}
=Film=
File:Lynn Collins TIFF 2011.jpg
| class="wikitable" |
| style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 2002
|Stacy |{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} |
| 2003
|Beatnik Girl | |
| rowspan=3|2004
|Linda | |
| 13 Going on 30
|Wendy | |
| The Merchant of Venice
|Portia | |
| rowspan=4|2006
|Return to Rajapur |Sara Reardon | |
| Bug
|R.C. | |
| The Lake House
|Mona | |
| The Dog Problem
|Lola | |
| rowspan=3|2007
|Suicide Blonde/Mrs. Dobkins/Young Fingerling's Mother | |
| Numb
|Sara Harrison | |
| Towelhead
|Thena Panos | |
| rowspan=2|2008
|Kate Voss | |
| Uncertainty
|Kate Montero | |
| rowspan=2|2009
|Barb |{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} |
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine
| |
| 2010
|Vince's Bombshell Girlfriend | |
| rowspan=2|2011
|Cindy | |
| 10 Years
|Anna | |
| rowspan=2|2012
| |
| Unconditional
|Samantha Crawford | |
| 2013
|Kayla Silverfox | Archival Audio (uncredited) |
| 2015
|Mary | |
| 2016
|Marla | |
| 2019
| Major Collins | |
| 2020
| Liz Rhodes | |
| 2024
| Louise Quinn | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Title !Role !Notes |
|---|
| 1999
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Virginia Hayes | 1 episode |
| 2001
| Earth Angels | Catarin | Television movie |
| 2001
| The Education of Max Bickford | | 1 episode |
| 2002
| BRB's Wife | 1 episode |
| 2002
| Haunted | Assistant D.A. Jessica Manning | 5 episodes |
| 2008
| Dawn Green | Series regular (6 episodes) |
| 2013
| Tanya Barrett | 1 episode |
| 2014
| Olga Akarova | 3 episodes |
| 2015
| A Mother Betrayed | Monica | Television movie |
| 2017
| Natalie Rogers | 7 episodes |
| 2019
| The Fix | Dr. Carys Daly | 2 episodes |
| 2020
| Bosch | Alicia Kent | 8 episodes |
| 2021–2022
| 10 episodes |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Nominated work ! Result |
|---|
| 2005
| Best Supporting Actress – Musical or Comedy | style="text-align: center;" | The Merchant of Venice | {{Nom}} |
| 2009
| Choice Movie: Fresh Face – Female | style="text-align: center;" | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | {{Nom}} |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{commons}}
- {{IMDb name|1211488}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Lynn}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Houston
Category:American expatriates in Japan
Category:American expatriates in Singapore
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American people of Irish descent
Category:American people of Scottish descent
Category:American people who self-identify as being of Cherokee descent
Category:American Shakespearean actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses