Lily Jane Collins (born March 18, 1989) is a British-born American actress, model and television personality. She portrays Clary Fray in the film adaptation, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Early life
Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, and is the daughter of English musician Phil Collins and his second wife Jill Tavelman. Her mother is American, and is the president of the Beverly Hills' Women's Club. Collins is the half-sister of actress Joely Collins and musician Simon Collins (from her father's first marriage), and also has two half-brothers from her father's third marriage, Nicholas and Matthew Collins. Her maternal grandfather was a Canadian Jewish immigrant who owned a famous clothing store in Los Angeles.
Collins moved from England to Los Angeles when she was five years old, and her parents divorced. She graduated from Harvard-Westlake School and is currently a student at the University of Southern California with a major in broadcast journalism.
Career
Collins started acting at the age of two in the BBC series Growing Pains.
As a teenager, Collins wrote a column (titled NY Confidential) for the British magazine Elle Girl. She has also written for Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and the Los Angeles Times magazines.
She was chosen by Chanel to wear one of its gowns at the 2007 Bal des Débutantes (a charity ball) at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, which was featured on season 3 of the reality TV show The Hills. She was picked by Spain's Glamour magazine in 2008 as their "International model of the year" and appeared on the magazine's cover in August 2009.
Collins covered the 2008 US Presidential campaign as a host on the Nickelodeon show Kids Pick the President. She won a 2008 Young Hollywood Award for "Newest Red Carpet Correspondent." She has appeared in two episodes of the television show 90210, including the 2008–2009 season finale. Collins was one of twenty women named by Maxim magazine as one of "The Hottest Daughters of Rock Stars" in 2009.
Collins was in the 2009 film The Blind Side as Collins Tuohy, the daughter of Sandra Bullock's character Leigh Anne Tuohy. She played the warrior priest's daughter, Lucy, in the thriller Priest, opposite Paul Bettany.
MTV Networks' NextMovie.com named her one of the "Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011." She co-starred in the 2011 action film Abduction with Taylor Lautner. Collins played Snow White in Mirror Mirror, an adaptation of the Snow White fairytale, co-starring Julia Roberts. Robbie Collin from British newspaper The Telegraph wrote, "She has an adorable, sensational, almost perfect face for cinema; think Audrey Hepburn with the eyebrows of Liam Gallagher. Her smile is the Platonic ideal of cheeky." She made her singing debut in the film, performing an English re-written cover of "I Believe (in Love)."
Collins was reportedly to be the lead in a remake of The Evil Dead with a release date of April 2013, but dropped out due to a scheduling issue. In March 2012 it was announced that Collins would take the role of Samantha in Writers, starring alongside Jennifer Connelly, Logan Lerman, and Greg Kinnear. Collins is set to star in the first film adaptation of the New York Times bestselling "The Mortal Instruments" novels by Cassandra Clare, playing Clary Fray.
Personal Life
While filming the movie Abduction in 2010, Collins started dating her co-star Taylor Lautner. They split in 2011. She began dating her City of Bones leading man Jamie Campbell Bower. They then split up in August 2013, however she announced they are back together via Instagram in May 2015.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90210 | Phoebe Abrams | TV serial |
| 2009 | The Blind Side | Collins Tuohy | |
| 2011 | Priest | Lusy Pace | |
| 2011 | Abduction | Karen | |
| 2012 | Mirror, Mirror | Show White | |
| 2012 | Stuck In Love | Samantha Borgens | |
| 2012 | The English Teacher | Halle Anderson | |
| 2013 | Claudia Lewis | video | |
| 2013 | The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones | Clary Fray | |
| 2014 | Love, Rosie | Rosie Dunn | |
| 2015 | Unnamed Warren Beatty Project | Marla Mabrey | post-production |
| 2016 | How to Be Single? | pre-production |
References
- Lily Collins on Wikipedia
- Lily Collins at the Internet Movie Database
- Lily Collins on Twitter