Vanessa Ray (born June 24, 1981) is an American television, film and stage actress. She portrayed Charlotte DiLaurentis/CeCe Drake on the Freeform hit show, Pretty Little Liars.
She is best known for playing Teri Ciccone in the final season of the soap opera As the World Turns, and more recently, for her regular role as Eddie Janko on the police drama, Blue Bloods.
Life and Career[]
Vanessa was born in Livermore, California to Valerie and James Liptak, and was raised in Portland, Oregon.
In 2003, she married fellow actor Derek James Baynham, and the pair were featured on the first season of the HGTV series Marriage Under Construction in 2007. The show covered their purchase, renovation, and eventual sale of their former house in Toronto. In 2009, after over six-years of marriage, they divorced.
In 2015, Vanessa announced via her Instagram and Twitter accounts that she was engaged to her boyfriend of six years, Landon Beard. The pair were married in 2015, at the Condor's Nest Ranch in eastern San Diego County, California.
She has made multiple appearances in popular television series, including her roles as Tessa Marchetti in Damages and Maggie Sheldon in White Collar. She currently appears as Edit 'Eddie' Janko in the television series Blue Bloods.
Vanessa earned her Actor's Equity card while performing the role of Rusty and singing "Let's Hear It For the Boy" in the musical Footloose. She originated the role of Nemo in Robert and Kristin Lopez's Finding Nemo, the Musical at Orlando's Disney World. Vanessa embodied the character of Olive Ostrovsky in the National Tour of [The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She joined the Broadway cast of Hair in its final year as Crissy, and sang her heart out in the "Frank Mills Song".
She made her on-screen debut as Chris in the youth-oriented video short feature, The Sparky Chronicles: The Map in 2003.
She won Choice TV Villain at the Teen Choice Awards in 2015, for her role as Charlotte DiLaurentis in Pretty Little Liars.
Filmography[]
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-2009 | The Battery's Down | Vanessa | 3 Episodes |
| 2009 | Bored to Death | Claudia | Episode: "The Case of the Missing Screenplay" |
| 2009-2010 | As the World Turns | Teri Ciccone | Recurring role (49 episodes) |
| 2010 | Damages | Tessa Marchetti | Recurring role (7 episodes) |
| 2011 | White Collar | Maggie 'Rocker' Sheldon | Episode: "What Happens in Burma" |
| 2011 | Nurse Jackie | Mrs. Donovan | Episode: "Have You Met Ms. Jones?" |
| 2011-2012 | Suits | Jenny Griffith | Recurring role (9 episodes) |
| 2012 | Girls | Heather Travis | Episode: "The Return" |
| 2012 | The Right Not to Know | Earthy Chick | TV miniseries |
| 2012-2017 | Pretty Little Liars | Cece Drake/Charlotte DiLaurentis | Recurring role |
| 2013 | The Mentalist | Cayce Robbins |
Episode: "Red Lacquer Nail Polish" |
| 2013- present | Blue Bloods | Edit 'Eddie' Janko | Season 4: Recurring role Season 5: Main role |
Film[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Sparky Chronicles: The Map | Chris | Video short |
| 2004 | Is He... | Steph | Short film |
| 2008 | Finding Chance | Katrina | |
| 2010 | Nice Guy Johnny | Best Friend | |
| 2011 | Trust Me | Girlfriend | Video short |
| 2012 | Not Waving But Drowning | Adele | |
| 2012 | The Last Day of August | Phoebe | |
| 2013 | Wisdom Teeth | Post-production |
Trivia[]
- Her reaction to finding out she was playing "A", was throwing the script across the room and screaming. Her husband was so worried, that she had to tell him she had just found out who A was, but couldn't tell him anything.
- She invited Sasha Pieterse and Sasha's boyfriend, Hudson Sheaffer, to her wedding.
- She was featured wearing her dress in Sophisticated Weddings magazine.
- She met Hilary Clinton in 2018, which she admits was a dream of hers for a long time.
- She watched the 2017 solar eclipse while filming Blue Bloods.
- One of her favorite Pretty Little Liars scenes to film was her fighting-scene with Janel Parrish.
