Shay Mitchell

Shannon Ashley Garcia Mitchell (born April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress, model, entrepreneur and author. She first became known for starring as Emily Fields in the drama series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017), for which she earned several Teen Choice Awardnominations. She has since starred as Irina Webber in the science fiction series Aaron Stone (2010), Peach Salinger in the psychological thriller series You (2018), and currently stars as Stella Cole in the Hulu comedy series Dollface (2019–present).

Mitchell made her film debut starring as Nicole in the musical drama film Dreamland (2016), after starring in a series of short films. She has since starred as Tina in the comedy film Mother’s Day (2016), and Megan Reed in the thriller film The Possession of Hannah Grace(2018).

Early life

Mitchell was born in Mississauga, Ontario, the daughter of Precious Garcia and Mark Mitchell. Her father is of Scottish and Irish descent and her mother, who is Filipina, is from the province of Pampanga, and left the Philippines at age 19. She has one younger brother named Sean. She is a first cousin-once-removed of Lea Salonga, a singer and theater actress. She attended Rockridge Secondary School and then later transferred to West Vancouver Secondary School where she graduated.

By her late teens, Mitchell had successfully modeled for a variety of companies in cities as varied as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Barcelona, eventually returning to Toronto to study acting.

Career

Mitchell began acting in 2009, making a guest appearance on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She next guest starred in the police drama series Rookie Blue, and also appeared in the music video for “Hold My Hand” by Jamaican rapper Sean Paul. In the same year, Mitchell was cast as Emily Fields in the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars, an adaptation of the book series of the same name. Initially, she auditioned for the role of Spencer Hastings. Mitchell was praised for her performance, earning her several nominations from the Teen Choice Awards. In 2010, Mitchell appeared in a four-episode arc on the Disney XD series Aaron Stone as Irina Webber.

In 2011, she signed a contract with Procter & Gamble to be the spokesperson for the Pantene Nature Fusion shampoo line. In the same year, Mitchell created a YouTube channel, where she is best known for her lifestyle-type videos. In 2015, Mitchell co-authored the young adult novel Bliss with Michaela Blaney. In 2016, after starring in a few minor works years prior, Mitchell made her film debut with the musical drama film Dreamland, starring as Nicole, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. In the same year, she starred as Tina in the comedy film Mother’s Day, which was a commercial success, however it was panned by critics.

In 2017, Mitchell was cast in the former Lifetime television thriller series You, in the role of Peach Salinger, which was released in September 2018, and attained critical acclaim. In the same year, she started the production company “Amore & Vita Inc.”, and has signed a contract with Warner Bros. Television. She was also cast in the ABC television pilot The Heiresses, adapted from the book with the same name. The show was in production until 2018, when it was announced that the show was cancelled. In 2018, Mitchell launched her travel brand, “BÉIS”. In the same year, she headlined the horror film The Possession of Hannah Grace, which was received negatively by critics, but was a commercial success.

In 2019, Mitchell was cast as Stella Cole in the Hulu comedy series Dollface, which premiered in November 2019. In 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.

Philanthropy

Mitchell supported Somaly Mam Foundation, a non-profit organization that fought sex trafficking until it ended operations in 2014. She has also worked with The Trevor Projectalongside the Pretty Little Liars cast and the NOH8 Campaign. She works with the WE Charity, which helps communities develop educational resources, and she partnered with Represent Clothing to promote tees where half the proceeds went to GLAAD.

Personal life

Mitchell has been in a relationship with Matte Babel since 2017. On January 1, 2019, Mitchell revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage in 2018. On June 28, 2019, Mitchell revealed that she was expecting their first child, a girl. On October 20, 2019, she announced the birth of her daughter, Atlas Noa Babel. Her daughter was born on October 8, 2019, which was revealed when Mitchell posted a year later celebrating her first birthday.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Verona	Model	Short film
2012	Just Yell Fire: Campus Life	Herself	Short documentary
2014	Immediately Afterlife	Marissa	Short film
2016	Dreamland	Nicole
2016	Mother’s Day	Tina
2016	A Trip to Unicorn Island	Herself	Documentary
2018	The Possession of Hannah Grace	Megan Reed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Model	Episode: “Up Where We Belong”
2010–2017	Pretty Little Liars	Emily Fields	Main role
2010	Aaron Stone	Irina Webber	4 episodes
2010	Rookie Blue	Cute Girl	Episode: “Mercury Retrograde”
2012	Punk’d	Herself	Episode: “Heather Morris”
2012	Glee	Girl in Yellow Jacket	Episode: “Britney 2.0”
2015	Project Runway	Herself	Guest judge; episode: “Fashion Week: Who’s In and Who’s Out”
2017	Shay Mitchell: Chapters	Herself	Fullscreen Original Series
2018	RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars	Herself	Guest judge; episode: “Pop Art Ball”
2018	You	Peach Salinger	Main role (season 1); 6 episodes
2019	Almost Ready	Herself	YouTube Originals Series
2019–present	Dollface	Stella Cole	Main role
2020	We Celebrate: Class of 2020	Herself	Television special
2021	Trese	Alexandra Trese	In production Animated series; main voice role

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist(s)	Ref(s)
2009	“Hold My Hand”	Sean Paul
2016	“Under You”	Nick Jonas
2017	“Help Me Help You”	Logan Paul (featuring Why Don’t We)
2018	“In My Feelings”	Drake

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref(s)
2011	Pretty Little Liars	Young Hollywood Awards	Cast to Watch (shared with Troian Bellisario, Lucy Hale and Ashley Benson)	Won
		Youth Rock Award	Rockin’ TV Actress	Nominated
2014		Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer TV Star – Female	Nominated
2015		MTV Fandom Awards	Ship Of The Year (shared with Sasha Pieterse)	Nominated
		Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Drama	Nominated
2016			Choice Summer TV Star – Female	Nominated
		People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Cable TV Actress	Nominated
2017		Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Drama	Nominated
			Choice TV Ship (shared with Sasha Pieterse)	Nominated
2018	Herself		Choice Web Star: Fashion/Beauty	Nominated