Vanessa Lengies
Encyclopedia
Vanessa Lynne-Marie Lengies (born July 21, 1985) is a Canadian actress best known for starring in the drama American Dreams
as Roxanne Bojarski. She recently appeared as Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama HawthoRNe
, and the recurring role of Sugar Motta for the third season of the Fox
hit musical dramedy Glee
.
father and an Egyptian
mother, Lengies got her start in Canadian television on shows such as Sponk!
, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Radio Active
, and Popular Mechanics for Kids
. Her voice was lent to Emily on the PBS
animated series Arthur
. In 2000, she had the lead role in the Showtime movie Ratz
.
In 2002, she was cast as a series regular in the NBC
comedy-drama American Dreams
, playing teenager Roxanne Bojarski. The show was set in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s, and Roxanne becomes one of the dancers on the American Bandstand
television show hosted by Dick Clark. The series ran for three seasons, with the final episode broadcast on March 30, 2005.
In August 2005, she co-starred with Hilary Duff
and Heather Locklear
in the comedy The Perfect Man
. She also plays a supporting role as the jailbait
hostess, Natasha, in the 2005 American
film Waiting..., and recreated the role in the film's 2009 sequel, Still Waiting...
. In 2006, she co-starred with Jeff Bridges
and Missy Peregrym
as a gymnast
in the movie Stick It
.
For The Grudge 2
, the role of Vanessa was originally written for Lengies, who eventually turned it down to film My Suicide
; the part still bears her name. She has also appeared in CBS
show The Ghost Whisperer
in an episode titled "The Vanishing". She made another appearance in an episode of the short-lived CBS show Moonlight
.
Lengies was seen as Sophia in the Lifetime original drama series Monarch Cove
. She also co-starred in the ABC
online comedy, Squeegees.
She appeared as Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama HawthoRNe
from 2009 through 2011. The role was a recurring one for the first season, and Lengies became a series regular for the following two seasons. The show, which ran for three seasons of ten episodes starting each June, was not renewed for a fourth summer.
In August 2011, Lengies was cast in the recurring role of Sugar Motta for the third season of Glee
. Sugar, who is well-off, self-confident, and has a tin ear, will appear beginning with the season premiere on September 20, 2011.
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| 2011–present
| Hoey 2
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American Dreams
American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios...
as Roxanne Bojarski. She recently appeared as Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama HawthoRNe
Hawthorne
-People:* Charles Webster Hawthorne , American painter* Donald Hawthorne , American yeast geneticist* Frank Hawthorne , Canadian mineralogist and crystallographer* M. Frederick Hawthorne, American chemist...
, and the recurring role of Sugar Motta for the third season of the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
hit musical dramedy Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
.
Life and career
Born to a GermanGermans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
father and an Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
mother, Lengies got her start in Canadian television on shows such as Sponk!
Sponk!
Sponk! is a children's television show, broadcast on the American networks Noggin and The N from 2001 to 2003. The premise of Sponk! was improvisational comedy, similar to the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Two teams of performers depicted suggestions in a variety of games. Viewers suggested...
, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Radio Active
Radio Active (TV Series)
Radio Active was a Canadian television program broadcast on YTV, based on the Quebec French series Radio Enfer, about group of students at Upper Redwood High managing their own school radio station, called Radio Active....
, and Popular Mechanics for Kids
Popular Mechanics for Kids
Popular Mechanics for Kids was a Canadian children's television series based on Popular Mechanics magazine. It was notable for starting the careers of both Elisha Cuthbert and Jay Baruchel. The show's purpose was to teach children how things work...
. Her voice was lent to Emily on the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
animated series Arthur
Arthur (TV series)
Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...
. In 2000, she had the lead role in the Showtime movie Ratz
Ratz
Ratz , officially the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace was a left-wing political party in Israel from 1973 until its formal merger into Meretz in 1997.-Background:...
.
In 2002, she was cast as a series regular in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
comedy-drama American Dreams
American Dreams
American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios...
, playing teenager Roxanne Bojarski. The show was set in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s, and Roxanne becomes one of the dancers on the American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
television show hosted by Dick Clark. The series ran for three seasons, with the final episode broadcast on March 30, 2005.
In August 2005, she co-starred with Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
and Heather Locklear
Heather Locklear
Heather Deen Locklear is an American actress best known for her television roles as Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty, Officer Stacy Sheridan on T.J...
in the comedy The Perfect Man
The Perfect Man
The Perfect Man is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Mark Rosman and written by Gina Wendkos. It stars Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth. Filming of the movie began in May 2004...
. She also plays a supporting role as the jailbait
Jailbait
Jailbait is American English slang for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity, but physically mature enough to be mistaken for an adult and be considered sexually desirable...
hostess, Natasha, in the 2005 American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film Waiting..., and recreated the role in the film's 2009 sequel, Still Waiting...
Still Waiting...
Still Waiting... is an American independent film starring John Michael Higgins, and Luis Guzman, and the sequel to Waiting.... Some of the cast of the original film appear in the sequel. Adam Carolla and Justin Long appear in cameo roles...
. In 2006, she co-starred with Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
and Missy Peregrym
Missy Peregrym
Melissa "Missy" Peregrym is a Canadian actress and former fashion model. She made her feature film debut in the 2006 gymnastics comedy drama Stick It. She played a recurring role as Candice Wilmer on the NBC television series Heroes, and starred in the CW television series Reaper...
as a gymnast
Gymnast
Gymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia...
in the movie Stick It
Stick It
Stick It is an American teen comedy-drama film starring Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, and Vanessa Lengies. It was written and directed by Jessica Bendinger, writer of Bring It On; the film marks her directorial debut...
.
For The Grudge 2
The Grudge 2
The Grudge 2 is the 2006 sequel to the 2004 American horror film remake The Grudge. The Grudge 2 is the second film in Sony's The Grudge series and is directed by Takashi Shimizu and written by Stephen Susco. The film is produced by Sam Raimi and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Tamblyn, Arielle...
, the role of Vanessa was originally written for Lengies, who eventually turned it down to film My Suicide
My Suicide
Archie's Final Project is a teen dramedy feature film directed by David Lee Miller and starring Gabriel Sunday. It won the best feature film prize for the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival's youth film section Generation 14plus...
; the part still bears her name. She has also appeared in CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
show The Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...
in an episode titled "The Vanishing". She made another appearance in an episode of the short-lived CBS show Moonlight
Moonlight (TV series)
Moonlight was an American paranormal romance television drama created by Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson, who was also executive producer for all episodes with Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio, Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman. The series follows private investigator Mick St...
.
Lengies was seen as Sophia in the Lifetime original drama series Monarch Cove
Monarch Cove
Monarch Cove is a prime time telenovela that premiered on Lifetime Television on November 4, 2006. It ran for 14 episodes, ending on December 16, 2006.-Premise:...
. She also co-starred in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
online comedy, Squeegees.
She appeared as Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama HawthoRNe
Hawthorne
-People:* Charles Webster Hawthorne , American painter* Donald Hawthorne , American yeast geneticist* Frank Hawthorne , Canadian mineralogist and crystallographer* M. Frederick Hawthorne, American chemist...
from 2009 through 2011. The role was a recurring one for the first season, and Lengies became a series regular for the following two seasons. The show, which ran for three seasons of ten episodes starting each June, was not renewed for a fourth summer.
In August 2011, Lengies was cast in the recurring role of Sugar Motta for the third season of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
. Sugar, who is well-off, self-confident, and has a tin ear, will appear beginning with the season premiere on September 20, 2011.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Waiting... | Natasha | |
| The Perfect Man The Perfect Man The Perfect Man is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Mark Rosman and written by Gina Wendkos. It stars Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth. Filming of the movie began in May 2004... |
Amy Pearl | ||
| 2006 | The Substance of Things Hoped For | Daphne | |
| Stick It Stick It Stick It is an American teen comedy-drama film starring Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, and Vanessa Lengies. It was written and directed by Jessica Bendinger, writer of Bring It On; the film marks her directorial debut... |
Joanne Charis | ||
| 2008 | Extreme Movie | Carla | |
| Foreign Exchange | Robyn | ||
| 2009 | My Suicide My Suicide Archie's Final Project is a teen dramedy feature film directed by David Lee Miller and starring Gabriel Sunday. It won the best feature film prize for the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival's youth film section Generation 14plus... |
Mallory | |
| Still Waiting... Still Waiting... Still Waiting... is an American independent film starring John Michael Higgins, and Luis Guzman, and the sequel to Waiting.... Some of the cast of the original film appear in the sequel. Adam Carolla and Justin Long appear in cameo roles... |
Natasha | ||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996–2006 | Arthur Arthur (TV series) Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service... |
Emily | Recurring role |
| 1997 | Lassie | Charity | Episode: "The Manhunt" |
| 1998–2001 | Popular Mechanics for Kids Popular Mechanics for Kids Popular Mechanics for Kids was a Canadian children's television series based on Popular Mechanics magazine. It was notable for starting the careers of both Elisha Cuthbert and Jay Baruchel. The show's purpose was to teach children how things work... |
Herself | Select episodes |
| 1998 | Caillou Caillou Caillou is a Canadian children's television show based on the books by author Christine L'Heureux and illustrator Hélène Desputeaux. Many of the stories in the animated version began with a grandmother introducing the story to her grandchildren, then reading the story about the book... |
Boy/Girl | 3 episodes |
| Radio Active Radio Active (TV Series) Radio Active was a Canadian television program broadcast on YTV, based on the Quebec French series Radio Enfer, about group of students at Upper Redwood High managing their own school radio station, called Radio Active.... |
Sarah Leigh | ||
| 1999–2000 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? Are You Afraid of the Dark? Are You Afraid of the Dark? may refer to:* Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a 1992 television series* Are You Afraid of the Dark? , a 2004 novel by Sidney Sheldon... |
Vange | Main role |
| 2000 | Ratz Ratz Ratz , officially the Movement for Civil Rights and Peace was a left-wing political party in Israel from 1973 until its formal merger into Meretz in 1997.-Background:... |
Marci Kornbalm | TV film |
| For Better or for Worse For Better or For Worse For Better or For Worse is a comic strip by Lynn Johnston that ran for 30 years, chronicling the lives of a Canadian family, The Pattersons, and their friends. The story is set in the fictitious Toronto-area suburban town of Milborough, Ontario. Johnston's strip began in September 1979, and ended... |
Elizabeth Patterson | ||
| 2002–2005 | American Dreams American Dreams American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios... |
Roxanne Bojarski | Main role |
| 2005 | 8 Simple Rules 8 Simple Rules 8 Simple Rules is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 17, 2002, to April 15, 2005, with 76 episodes produced over three seasons. It is based on the self-improvement book of the same name. The show starred John Ritter until his death on September 11, 2003... |
Monica | Episode: "The After Party" |
| 2006 | Ghost Whisperer Ghost Whisperer Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts... |
Caitlin Emerson | Episode: "The Vanishing" |
| Split Decision | Ashley | TV movie | |
| Monarch Cove | Sophia Preston | Main role | |
| 2007 | Moonlight Moonlight (TV series) Moonlight was an American paranormal romance television drama created by Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson, who was also executive producer for all episodes with Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio, Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman. The series follows private investigator Mick St... |
Leni Hayes | Episode: "Fever" |
| 2008 | The Cleaner The Cleaner (TV series) The Cleaner was an A&E television series starring Benjamin Bratt. It debuted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 10:00 pm EST and the last episode aired on September 15, 2009, when the show was officially cancelled.... |
Lolly | Episode: "Rag Dolls" |
| This Might Hurt | Lily Birdsall | TV movie | |
| 2009 | Medium Medium (TV series) Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office... |
Zoey | Episode: "Apocalypse... Now?" |
| 2009–2011 | HawthoRNe Hawthorne -People:* Charles Webster Hawthorne , American painter* Donald Hawthorne , American yeast geneticist* Frank Hawthorne , Canadian mineralogist and crystallographer* M. Frederick Hawthorne, American chemist... |
Nurse Kelly Epson | |
| 2010 | Accidentally on Purpose Accidentally on Purpose (TV series) Accidentally on Purpose is an American television situation comedy series starring Jenna Elfman. It first aired on CBS during the 2009–10 season. and was produced by the CBS in-house production arm. The show is based on the book of the same name by Mary F... |
Tracy | Episode: "Back to School" |
| CSI: Miami CSI: Miami CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.... |
Shea Williamson | Episode: "Reality Kills" | |
| Rules of Engagement Rules of Engagement (TV series) Rules of Engagement is a sitcom that debuted on CBS on February 5, 2007, as a midseason replacement, immediately following Two and a Half Men, in the time slot that was occupied by now-cancelled The New Adventures of Old Christine... |
Julia | Episode: "Refusing to Budget" | |
| 2011 | Castle Castle (TV series) Castle is an American comedy-drama television series, which premiered on ABC on March 9, 2009. The series is produced by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios. On January 10, 2011, Castle was renewed for a fourth season... |
Eliza Winter | Episode: "Poof, You're Dead" |
| 2011–present | Glee Glee (TV series) Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues... |
Sugar Motta | Recurring character |
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| 2011–present
| Hoey 2
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