Vanessa Lengies


Vanessa Lengies is a Canadian actress, dancer and singer. She is known for starring in the drama American Dreams as Roxanne Bojarski. She appeared as Charge Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama HawthoRNe, and has appeared in the recurring role of Sugar Motta in the third, fourth, and sixth seasons of the Fox series Glee.

Early life

Born to a German father and an Egyptian mother in Montreal, Lengies grew up in Hudson, Quebec, where she graduated from Hudson High School in 2002.

Career

Lengies got her start in Canadian television on shows such as Sponk!, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Radio Active, and Popular Mechanics for Kids. Her voice was lent to Emily on the PBS animated series Arthur. In 2000, she had the lead role in the Showtime film Ratz.
In 2002, she was cast as a series regular in the NBC comedy-drama American Dreams, playing teenager Roxanne Bojarski. The show was set in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s, and Roxanne becomes one of the dancers on the American Bandstand television show hosted by Dick Clark. The series ran for three seasons, with the final episode broadcast in March 2005.
In August 2005, she co-starred with Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear in the comedy The Perfect Man. She also plays a supporting role as the jailbait hostess, Natasha, in the 2005 American film Waiting..., and reprised the role in the film's 2009 sequel, Still Waiting.... In 2006, she co-starred with Jeff Bridges and Missy Peregrym as a gymnast in the film Stick It.
For The Grudge 2, the role of Vanessa was originally written for Lengies, who eventually turned it down to film My Suicide; the part still bears her name. She has also appeared in CBS show Ghost Whisperer in an episode titled "The Vanishing" and the NBC show Medium in the episode "Apocalypse... Now?". She made another appearance in an episode of the short-lived CBS show Moonlight.
Lengies was seen as Sophia in the Lifetime original drama series Monarch Cove. She also co-starred in the ABC online comedy, Squeegees.
She appeared as Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama Hawthorne from 2009 through 2011. The role was a recurring one for the first season, and Lengies became a series regular for the following two seasons. The show, which ran for three seasons of ten episodes starting each June, was not renewed for a fourth summer. She appeared in the role of Loco Uno in an online mockumentary and sitcom called MyMusic.
She was cast as Kacey, a bubbly cocktail waitress, in the sitcom Mixology. However, ABC canceled Mixology after only one season. Originally cast in a guest role, Lengies was upped to a main cast role on FOX's 2016 drama Second Chance.

''Glee''

In August 2011, Lengies was cast in the recurring role of Sugar Motta for the third season of Glee. Sugar, who is well-off, self-confident, and has a tin ear, first appeared in the season premiere on September 20, 2011. Since then, Sugar's singing has greatly improved, and she now performs with the main glee club, New Directions; she had her first solo line in the season's tenth episode, "Yes/No".
In 2013, Lengies visited her old high school, Hudson High School to see how much it had changed, and to speak to the Student Life and Drama students about her journey of how she got to be on the hit TV show Glee.
According to Lengies, Sugar's self-diagnosed Aspergers is part of her character. She said that it was difficult to sing poorly on purpose, especially with piano accompaniment. Sugar's debut was praised by Salon Matt Zoller Seitz, who said of the new addition to McKinley, "She's awful. She's also an entitled little snot... She's a great character, and I hope we haven't seen the last of her." Entertainment Weekly Abby West praised Sugar, and with Sue otherwise occupied hoped to see more of Sugar as "a thorn in the Glee club's side." On the other hand, TV Guide "jeered" Sugar, calling her "an off-key addition to the cast". The A.V. Club Emily VanDerWerff concurred, and said of "I Am Unicorn", "Sugar continues to be one of my least favorite new characters in ages". The Huffington Post named Sugar Motta one of the "Worst TV Characters" in 2012. Respers France was entirely unimpressed with the routine. For her, Sugar's scene following it was one of the episode's few highlights, although she described Sugar as having "a horrible voice".
Following the end of the fourth season, Lengies announced her departure from Glee, citing frustration with not having the opportunity to act as she was hired per episode, though she did return for two appearances in the sixth season.

Personal life

She came out as genderfluid and bisexual on her own documental series The 'S' Word with Vanessa Lengies in 2017.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1995–96The Little Lulu ShowAnnie InchVoice role
1996–2002ArthurEmilyVoice role
1997LassieCharityEpisode: "The Manhunt"
1998Radio ActiveSarah LeighMain role
1998CaillouBoy / GirlVoice role
1999–2000Are You Afraid of the Dark?VangeMain role
1999–2001Popular Mechanics for KidsHerselfHost
2000For Better or For WorseElizabeth PattersonMain role
2000RatzMarci KornbalmTV film; Main role
Nominated — Best Performance in a TV Movie - Leading Young Actress
2002–05American DreamsRoxanne BojarskiMain Role
Nominated — Young Artist Awards for Best Ensemble in a TV Series
Nominated — Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a TV Series - Supporting Young Actress
Nominated — Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Sidekick
2003–05Pet StarHerself / Judge4 episodes
20058 Simple RulesMonicaEpisode: "The After Party"
2006Ghost WhispererCaitlin EmersonEpisode: "The Vanishing"
2006Monarch CoveSophia PrestonMain role
2006Split DecisionAshleyTV film
2007MoonlightLeni HayesEpisode: "Fever"
2007The CleanerLollyEpisode: "Rag Dolls"
2007Untitled David Kohan/Max Mutchnick TV ProjectTessaTV film
2008SqueegeesAnnie HackettTV film
2009MediumZoey LehmanEpisode: "Apocalypse... Now?"
2009–11HawthorneKelly EpsonRecurring role ; main role ; 29 episodes
2010Accidentally on PurposeTracyEpisode: "Back to School"
2010'Shea WilliamsonEpisode: ""
2010Rules of EngagementJuliaEpisode: "Refusing to Budget"
2011CastleEliza WinterEpisode: "Poof! You're Dead"
2011–13, 2015GleeSugar MottaRecurring role ; 26 episodes
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2012–13MyMusicLoco UnoRecurring role ; 7 episodes
2014MixologyKaceyMain role
2014Llama CopDr. Kristen ReynoldsEpisodes: "Bad Llieutenant", "Dirty, Hairy"
2015Resident AdvisorsMarissaRecurring role; 4 episodes
2016Second ChanceAlexaMain role
2016The DetourElfEpisode: "The Drop"
2016–17'Kordi FreemakerMain role
2017The 'S' Word with Vanessa LengiesHerself / HostTV Miniseries; also producer
2018I.R.L.Catherine VanRicherEpisode: "The Boredroom - "The Future Is""
2018Kordi FreemakerEpisode: "From Trenches to Wrenches: The Roger Story"

YearTitleArtist
2006"We Run This"Missy Elliot

Awards and nomination

Discography