Lynn Collins

Viola Lynn Collins was born on May 16, 1977, in College Station, Texas, and grew up in Houston. She has claimed English, Scottish, Irish, and Cherokee ancestry. Between the ages of 4 and 10, Collins lived in Singapore, and she also spent several summers in Japan. Her interest in acting began during a childhood Christmas pageant in which she played Mrs. Claus. She attended Singapore American School and Klein High School in Texas before relocating to New York City at 17 to study at the Juilliard School's Drama Division, where she was part of Group 28 from 1995 to 1999 and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Collins made her television debut in 1999 in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Her early stage work included playing Ophelia opposite Liev Schreiber in Hamlet and taking on the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. In 2001, she appeared on Broadway in The Old Women. She subsequently took on smaller film and television roles, including appearances in Down with Love, 50 First Dates, 13 Going on 30, and the series Haunted. A turning point came with her casting as Portia in The Merchant of Venice alongside Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, and Jeremy Irons. Collins had originally auditioned for the supporting role of Jessica, but director Michael Radford was sufficiently impressed that he championed her for the lead role of Portia after Cate Blanchett withdrew from the part due to pregnancy.

Her profile continued to grow in 2008 when she was cast as Dawn Green, Jason Stackhouse's girlfriend, in the first season of the HBO series True Blood. The following year she appeared as Kayla Silverfox, the love interest of Hugh Jackman's character, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Collins took on her first leading film role in 2012, portraying the Martian princess Dejah Thoris in John Carter. She later appeared in the miniseries Manhunt: Unabomber in 2017 and had a recurring role in The Walking Dead from 2021 to 2022.

Collins married actor Steven Strait on December 23, 2007, following a four-year relationship; the two separated in 2013. She subsequently married Matthew Boyle in November 2014, and they have a son together. That marriage ended in divorce in 2016. Collins was raised in a Southern Baptist household she has described as very religious, and has since explored multiple religious faiths.