| “ | Embrace what you were born with because it's beautiful. | ” |
— Shay Mitchell
| ||
Shay Mitchell, born Shannon Ashley Mitchell on April 10, 1987, is a Canadian actress, model, producer, and writer. She was cast to star in the ABC television series The Heiresses.[1], before it was canceled.
Life and Career[]
Born to a Filipino mother, Precious, and Irish/Scottish father Mark, Shay is a native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She also has a younger brother named Sean.
Even as a young child, she was interested in the performing arts, declaring to her parents that she would pursue such a career. Shay began dance lessons at the age of five, and she and several of her classmates toured the city to compete with a variety of other dance schools.
At the age of ten, Shay's family moved west to Vancouver, British Columbia. Within a year of their arrival, an international modeling agency held an open casting call for teen and pre-teen girls who were vying for representation, and she was one of the girls selected.
By her late teens, Shay had successfully modeled for a variety of companies in cities as varied as Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Barcelona. Wanting to focus on her true passion, she returned to Toronto and began to study acting with great focus and determination. Her hard work paid off and, after signing with her first theatrical agency, she appeared in the hit series Degrassi: The Next Generation and booked several national commercials. She also landed a recurring role in the Disney XD series "Aaron Stone". Shay guest starred in the Global series Rookie Blue and appeared in the music video for "Hold My Hand" by Jamaican rapper Sean Paul.
In December 2009, Shay was cast as Emily Fields in the ABC Family television series Pretty Little Liars. She had originally auditioned for the role of Spencer Hastings, which ended up going to Troian Bellisario. The series follows the lives of four girls whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. One year later, the estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure named "A", who threatens to expose their deepest secrets, including ones they thought only Alison knew.
In January 2011, Mitchell became a spokesperson for the Pantene Nature Fusion shampoo line.
In 2012, Shay became the new face of American Eagle, and in 2013 she became a mentor for the ACUVUE 1-Day Challenge.
In 2017, she became the spokesperson for Bioré, launched her YouTube channel, and appeared in RuPaul's Drag race competition as a judge. It was also announced that she would star in Sara Shepard's The Heiresses, which was being adapted for television by I. Marlene King. She would also play Peach Salinger in the drama-thriller, You.
Amore & Vita Productions[]
In 2017, Shay Mitchell formed her own production company that she named Amore & Vita Productions. Shortly after, she signed an exclusive multi-year pod deal with Warner Brothers Television (WBTV).
WBTV[]
Part of the pact-deal she created with Warner Brothers Television included Shay and her new producing partner, David Dean Portelli, developing ideas for new scripted and non-scripted programmings for broadcast, cable, on-demand/streaming and digital platforms. This will happen via Warner Bros. Television, Warner Horizon Scripted Television, Warner Bros. Animation, and WBTV’s digital venture Blue Ribbon Content.
The agreement also included a talent holding deal in acting for Shay. As part of the pact, she will co-star opposite Penn Badgley and Elizabeth Lail in Warner Horizon’s upcoming psychological thriller drama "You" on Lifetime network. She will portray Peach Sallinger in the series. As well as "You", she was able to star in I. Marlene King's adaptation of "The Heriesses" as an unknown character.
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-2009 | Degrassi: The Next Generation | Model | Episode: "Up Where We Belong" |
| 2010 | Rookie Blue | Girl | Episode: "Mercury Retrograde" |
| 2010 | Aaron Stone | Irina Webber | 2 episodes |
| 2010–2017 | Pretty Little Liars | Emily Fields | 160 episodes |
| 2012 | Fashion Police | Herself | Guest |
| 2012 | Punk'd | Herself | Episode: "Heather Morris" |
| 2013 | Immediately Afterlife | Marissa | Short Film |
| 2015 | Project Runway | Herself/Judge | Season 13, Episode 12: "Fashion Week: Who's in and Who's out" |
| 2016 | Mother's Day | Tina | First major movie |
| 2017 | Shay Mitchell: Chapters | Herself | Fullscreen original series |
| 2018 | Cadaver | Megan Reed | Main role |
| 2018-present | You | Peach Salinger | Main role |
| TBA | The Heiresses | TBA | Pre-Production |
Awards[]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Famous Teen Awards[2] | Favorite Summer Supporting TV Actress | Pretty Little Liars | Won |
| 2014 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer TV Star - Female | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2015 | MTV Fandom Awards | Ship Of The Year (shared with Sasha Pieterse) | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Drama | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
Bibliography[]
| Year | Title | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Bliss | Fiction/Contemporary romance | Co-wrote with Michaela Blaney |
Trivia[]
- Shay is of Filipino, Irish, and Scottish descent.
- Her favorite books include "Eat, Pray, Love", "The Alchemist", "The Kite Runner", and "Pretty Little Liars".
- Her favorite foods are anything Italian, Thai food, her mother's cooking, and Sriracha Hot Sauce.
- Her favorite TV shows include "Entourage", "Californication", and "Oprah".
- Her favorite vacation place is in Italy.
- Her favorite movies are "Vicki Christina Barcelona", "Under the Tuscan Sun", and "Little Mermaid".
- Additionally, her all-time favorite movie is "Selena".
- Her celebrity crush was Paul Walker and is currently Ryan Gosling.
- She is afraid of clowns and horror movies.
- Ironically, she acted in her first Horror Movie Cadaver, which premiered in 2017.
- She is double jointed.
- Enjoys guided meditation.
- Shay is a big fan of the show Glee and is friends with the Glee stars Naya Rivera and Jacob Artist.
- She has the same birthday as Ryan Merriman, who played Ian Thomas in Pretty Little Liars. She also has the same birthday as Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists star, Sofia Carson.
- She is best friends with her PLL co-star Ashley Benson. The pair is considered to be the closest cast members off-set.
- She runs a blog called Amore and Vita, with her best friend Michaela. This later became the name of her production agency.
- She is a big supporter and sponsor of the Somaly Mam Foundation.
- Her PLL co-stars called her the social media butterfly being the most active and one of the most followed liars on social media
- She is very active on YouTube and tries to post every Tuesday.
- In 2017, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. Television. Her role in The Heiresses can be accredited to the talent holding pact in the contract.
- After she formed her own production company called Amore & Vita Productions, she signed an exclusive multi-year pod deal at WBTV.
- She was the presenter at the 2018 Video Music Awards.
- Shay has worked with I. Marlene King on two shows, Pretty Little Liars and The Heiresses.
- Shay read and enjoy the The Heiresses by Sara Shepard so much that she wanted to be involved in the show and wanted it to be her next project.