Starting acting at age 9 in several family cable shows, Vanessa Lengies has provided her voice in the cartoon series "The Little Lulu Show" (1995), "Caillou," "For Better or for Worse," "Arthur" (1996-2006), and has co-starred in "Radio Active" (1998) and "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" (1999-2000), as well as co-hosted the TV show "Popular Mechanics for Kids" (1999-2000) before landing her big break in in the NBC serial dramedy "American Dreams" (2002-2005), co-starring as Roxanne Bojarski, Meg's (played by Brittany Snow) best friend.
The Canadian actress later ventured to films and has played significant roles in the films "Waiting..." (2005), "The Perfect Man" (2005), "Stick It" (2006), and "Extreme Movie" (2008). She will next be seen in the upcoming films "Still Waiting...," reprising her role as Natasha, "Foreign Exchange," and an untitled David Lee Miller project that also features David Carradine and Mariel Hemingway.
Childhood and Family:
Born in Montréal, Québec, Canada, on July 21, 1985, Vanessa Lynne-Marie Lengies (last name pronounced “Lee-Jees”) was raised in a little town called Hudson, in Quebec. She attended Evergreen Elementary and then went on to Hudson High School from 1997-2002.
Vanessa, nicknamed Nessa, Nessy, Ness, Vanny, or VL, is half-Egyptian from her mother side and half-German from her father side. She speaks English, French and some Arabic. She likes the “Harry Potter” series, but enjoys the first book “The Philosopher's Stone” more. Every morning, she wakes up with a Vanilla Ice Blend caffeine drink and listens to the song “Sk8ter Boi” by Avril Lavigne that she has memorized all the lyrics.
As of 2007, Vanessa resides in Los Angeles and likes snowboarding, event planning, dancing and singing in her free time. She also loves dogs and is in a lot of dog charities. She is best friends with her "American Dreams" (2002) co-star, Brittany Snow.
At the age of 9, Vanessa Lengies started acting professionally by doing several family cable shows and some voice works. Her first job was in the HBO animated television series based on the Marjorie Henderson Buell comic book character, "The Little Lulu Show," in which she voiced the title role's (voiced by Tracey Ullman and later Jane Woods) best friend Annie Inch.
She then was spotted as a guest in two 1996 episodes of the science fiction/horror-themed children's television series "Are You Afraid of the Dark?," as Vange, and later returned in the "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" second series in 1999-2000.
Meanwhile, Vanessa guest starred in an episode of the Canadian children's television series "Lassie" and voiced Emily (1996-2006) in the long-running animated children's series "Arthur." She also played the regular role of Sarah Leigh, the rollerblade-obsessed little sister to Melissa Galianos' Morgan who constantly annoys and interrupts the group, in the Canadian television program broadcast on YTV and Nickelodeon, "Radio Active" (1998). The show that follows a group of students at Upper Redwood High who have a radio show called Radio Active had 78 episodes and Three seasons dating from 1998 – 2001.
Additionally, Vanessa provided her voice in dual episodes of the family cartoon series based on the comic strip by Lynn Johnston, "For Better or for Worse," and did several different voices on the pre-schooler's cartoon series based on the books by Christine L'Heureux and illustrator Hélène Desputeaux, "Caillou." She also co-hosted the popular Canadian children's TV show based on the magazine "Popular Mechanics," "Popular Mechanics for Kids," from 1999 to 2000.
Hitting the new millennium, Vanessa co-starred with Caroline Elliott as two 14-year-olds with braces who end up being wallflowers at the local dances, in the coming of age TV movie "Ratz." Her performance in the breezy teen comedy telemovie earned her a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a TV Movie (Comedy) - Leading Young Actress.
From 2002 to 2005, Vanessa portrayed Roxanne Bojarski, Meg's (played by Brittany Snow) best friend who has a knack for getting herself into trouble, in the NBC serial dramedy "American Dreams." She almost lost the part as her parents weren't happy with her taking off her shirt and being seen in her bra in the pilot of the show. She was also afraid she wasn't going to be able to cry at the end of the pilot because she had only done comedy before.
While working on the show, Vanessa went to school for 3 hours a day. She later writes the “Roxanne Raves” for NBC's “American Dreams” website, entitled “Backstage at Bandstand.” Her work in the show has earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice TV Sidekick, a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Supporting Young Actress, and a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama), which she shared with Ethan Dampf, Sarah Ramos, and Brittany Snow. She also won a Family Award for Best Girlfriends that she shared with Brittany Snow.
When "American Dreams" came to end in 2005, Vanessa guest starred in an episode of ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" and made her film debut with Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, and Justin Long in Rob McKittrick's directorial debut, the independent comedy "Waiting..." (2005), playing Natasha, The 17-year-old jailbait hostess whose affections are being pursued by Monty (played by Reynolds) and Dan (played by David Koechner).
She followed it up with her next films, "The Perfect Man" (2005), Mark Rosman's poor romantic comedy drama in which she played Amy Pearl, Hilary Duff's classmate and best friend, and "The Substance of Things Hoped For" (2006), Greg Morgan's drama in which she starred as a young girl suffering a loss of faith and a lapse in memory following the death of her closest two friends. She also portrayed Missy Peregrym's nemesis Joanne in Jessica Bendinger directorial debut, the gymnastics drama/comedy "Stick It" (2006; also starring Jeff Bridges). She appeared briefly in the end of Missy Elliots new video “We Run This” which was featured in "Stick It" (2006).
On the small screen, Vanessa co-starred as Sophia Preston in the short-lived Lifetime primetime serial "Monarch Cove" (2006), starring Virginia Williams, and was in the pilot episode of “Split Decision” (2006), which unfortunately was not picked up by The CW. She was also spotted as a guest in an October 2007 episode of CBS supernatural drama, "Moonlight."
Vanessa was most recently seen alongside Ryan Pinkston, Michael Cera, Frankie Muniz, and Jamie Kennedy in Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson's sketch comedy movie about the joys and embarrassments of teen sex, "Extreme Movie" (2008).
She will soon complete her upcoming films, "Still Waiting...," sequel to the 2005 movie "Waiting..." in which she reprises her role as Natasha, and "Foreign Exchange," a comedy by Danny Roth in which she will co-star with Jennifer Coolidge and Ryan Pinkston. She is also working on an untitled David Lee Miller project, a teen coming-of-age romantic dramedy which also features David Carradine and Mariel Hemingway.
Family Awards: Best Girlfriends, “American Dreams,” 2003-shared with Brittany Snow