Viola Lynn Collins (born May 16, 1977) is an American actress. She has made television appearances in True Blood (2008), Manhunt: Unabomber (2017) and The Walking Dead (2021–2022), and is recognized for her roles in films such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and John Carter (2012).
Viola Lynn Collins was born in College Station, Texas,[1] reported variously in May or June 1977.[1][2][3] Collins is said to have come from Houston, Texas.[citation needed] She has English, Scottish and Irish ancestry but has also claimed Cherokee ancestry.[2][4] She spent her formative years in Singapore,[5] with "summers in Japan where my parents were getting their fourth and fifth and sixth Dan in Shitaru ... Okinawa style karate".[6] During a childhood Christmas pageant in which she played Mrs. Claus, Collins discovered her love for acting.[7][better source needed]
She attended Singapore American School and Klein High School in Texas.[citation needed] She graduated from the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 28: 1995–1999)[8] with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.[1]
Collins made her television debut in 1999, in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and went on to star onstage as Ophelia opposite Liev Schreiber in Hamlet, followed by a turn as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.[7][better source needed] After bit parts that included a stint on the show Haunted and roles in the movies Down with Love, 50 First Dates and 13 Going on 30,[7][better source needed] she gained notice in the film The Merchant of Venice as the female lead Portia, alongside Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons,[7][better source needed] Collins' audition tape for the supporting role of Jessica having so impressed director Michael Radford that—upon Cate Blanchett's opting out as Portia (due to pregnancy)—Radford had championed Collins becoming Blanchett's replacement.[9][10]
She furthered her profile in 2008 when she was cast as Jason Stackhouse's girlfriend Dawn Green in the first season of the HBO vampire series True Blood, and through a featured role as the hero's love interest Kayla Silverfox in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman. Her first leading film role came in 2012 when she was cast as the headstrong Martian princess Dejah Thoris in John Carter.[11][12]
Collins married Steven Strait on December 23, 2007,[13] after a four-year relationship.[5] Collins and Strait separated in 2013.[14][citation needed]
She married Matthew Boyle in November 2014. They divorced in 2016. They have a son.[14][citation needed]
In 2009, she posed nude for the May issue of Allure magazine.[15]
Collins was raised in a "very, very religious" family of Southern Baptists, and has since explored several religious faiths, describing herself as a "pretty spiritual person."[2][16]
Actor / Gender: Female / Born: June 1, 1979 / Birthplace: College Station, Texas.
[Collins is] planning her first trip to Scotland in May for her birthday.
When you're a functioning alcoholic, you can hide it. And I was young enough that it didn't show in my face. But it got to a point where somebody was like, it's not cute anymore, and I was like, Oh God.
Other sun-soaked Hollywood guests included actress Lynn Collins ('True Blood' and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine') and her husband, actor Steven Strait....
