Shay Mitchell, born Shannon Ashley Mitchell on April 10, 1987, is a Canadian actress and model. She is best known for her role as Emily Fields on Pretty Little Liars.
Life and Career
Born to a Filipino mother, Precious, and Irish/Scottish father Mark, Mitchell is a native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She has a younger brother named Sean.
Even as a young child, Mitchell was interested in the performing arts, declaring to her parents that she would pursue such a career. Mitchell 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 10, Mitchell'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. Mitchell was one of the girls selected.
By her late teens, Mitchell 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, Mitchell 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, Mitchell appeared in the hit series Degrassi: The Next Generation and booked several national commercials. Mitchell also landed a recurring role in the Disney XD series "Aaron Stone". Mitchell 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, Mitchell 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.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-2009 | Degrassi: The Next Generation | Model | Episode: "Up Where We Belong" |
| 2010 | Rookie Blue | Cute Girl | Episode: "Mercury Retrograde" |
| 2010 | Aaron Stone | Irina Webber | 2 episodes |
| 2010– present |
Pretty Little Liars | Emily Fields | 120 episodes |
| 2012 | Fashion Police | Herself | |
| 2012 | Punk'd | Herself | Episode: "Heather Morris" |
| 2014 | Immediately Afterlife | Marissa | Short Film |
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Famous Teen Awards[3] | Favorite Summer Supporting TV Actress | Pretty Little Liars | Won |
| 2014 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer TV Star - Female | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
Trivia
- Is of Filipino, Irish, and Scottish descent.
- Favorite books: Eat, Pray, Love, The Alchemist, The Kite Runner and Pretty Little Liars.
- Favorite food: Anything Italian, Thai food, and mother's cooking.
- Favorite TV shows: Entourage, Californication, and Oprah.
- Favorite vacation place: Moorea, Tahiti.
- Favorite movies: Vicki Christina Barcelona, Under the Tuscan Sun, and Little Mermaid.
- Top favorite movie: Selena.
- Celebrity crushes: Paul Walker and Ryan Gosling.
- Is afraid of clowns and horror movies.
- Double jointed.
- Enjoys guided meditation.
- Watches Glee and is friends with Glee stars Naya Rivera and Jacob Artist.
- Shares the same birthday with Ryan Merriman who played Ian Thomas in Pretty Little Liars
- Is best friends with Ashley Benson in real life.
- Runs a blog, Amore and Vita, with her best-friend Michaela.
- Is a supporter and sponsor of the Somaly Mam Foundation.
- The girls called her the social media butterfly being the most active and one of the most followed liar on social media
