Early life

Collins was born in Thornhill, Ontario, the daughter of Sari (née Bresver) and Stan Collins. Her father was born in London, England. Collins was raised Jewish. She has one brother, a copy editor, and her first cousin once removed is Spencer Rice, one of the stars of Kenny vs Spenny. She is a graduate of Thornlea Secondary School.

Career

Collins first began acting in 1998, with roles in various television series including Once a Thief, Noddy, and I Was a Sixth Grade Alien. From 2000 to 2001, she had a recurring role on In a Heartbeat before landing the role of Paige Michalchuk on Degrassi: The Next Generation in 2001. She also portrayed Derek's ex-girlfriend Kendra on Life with Derek. She has also appeared in numerous theatrical productions, playing the title roles in Alice in Wonderland and the production of Annie, and starring in the made-for-television film Virtual Mom. She has been a member of CharActors Theatre Troupe, a children's community theater company, for over five years.

In 2006, Collins made her feature film debut in Take the Lead, appearing alongside Antonio Banderas. The following year she appeared in Charlie Bartlett (starring Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey, Jr.). In 2008, she co-starred in the direct-to-DVD feature Picture This, opposite Ashley Tisdale and fellow Degrassi alumnus Shenae Grimes.

After YouTube celebrity Shane Dawson expressed his interest in watching the Degrassi series, Collins starred in a parody video released March 6, 2010.

She once again worked with Disney Channel and Tisdale on the 2011 High School Musical spin-off feature, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, playing the role of Tiffani.

From 2013 to 2014, Collins hosted MTV's 1 Girl 5 Gays replacing Aliya Jasmine Sovani, who had been hosting the show for 4 seasons.

Collins stars in the short film ”Zero Recognition”, directed by Ben Lewis, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 2014-09-05.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Valentine's Day	Young Alma	Television movie
1998	Real Kids, Real Adventures	Meggie	1 episode
1998	Blood on Her Hands	Ruby Collins	Television movie
1998	Once a Thief	Cleo at 13	1 episode
1998	Tempting Fate	Ruby	Television movie
1998	Happy Christmas, Miss King	Libby Hubble	Television movie
1998-1999	Noddy	Rox	3 episodes
1999	Rocky Marciano	Mary Anne	Television movie
1999	I Was a Sixth Grade Alien	Lindy Mae	2 episodes
1999	Restless Spirits	Rhonda	Television movie
2000	Virtual Mom	Lucy Foster	Television movie
2000	Deliberate Intent	Erin Smolla	Television movie
2000	Baby	Portia Pinter	Television movie
2000-2001	In a Heartbeat	Brooke Lanier	18 episodes
2001	What Girls Learn	Susie	Television movie
2001-2008	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Paige Michalchuk	100 episodes
2003	Blue Murder	Shannon Brady	1 episode
2003	Mutant X	Megan Morrison	1 episode
2003	The Eleventh Hour	Sara Chase	1 episode
2004	Renegadepress.com	Amanda	1 episode
2005	Totally Spies!	Voice	2 episodes
2005	Radio Free Roscoe	Blaire	2 episodes
2006	Take the Lead	Caitlin
2006	Booky Makes Her Mark	Ada-May	Television movie
2006	Angela's Eyes	Heather Keene	1 episode
2006-2009	Life with Derek	Kendra	10 episodes
2007	Grossology	Naomi (Voice)	2 episodes
2007	Charlie Bartlett	Kelly
2007-2009	The Best Years	Alicia O'Sullivan	2 seasons
2008	Picture This	Alexa	Direct-to-DVD release
2009	Degrassi Goes Hollywood	Paige Michalchuk	Television movie
2011	Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure	Tiffani	Disney Channel Original Movie; Direct-to-DVD release
2011	Being Erica	Barbera Strange (young)	2 episodes
2013-2014	1 Girl 5 Gays	Host	Talk show
2013-2014	Kroll Show	Collette / Mary Belle Edwards	4 episodes
2014	"Zero Recognition"	Demi	Short
2016	Slasher	EMT

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Result
2004	Gemini Award	Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series	Renegadepress.com	Nominated
2008	Gemini Award	Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Nominated
2002	Young Artist Award	Best Ensemble in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama)	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Won
2003	Young Artist Award	Best Ensemble in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama)	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Nominated
2006	Young Artist Award	Best Ensemble in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama)	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]