Shay Mitchell was born Shannon Ashley Mitchell to Precious Garcia and Mark Mitchell on April 10, 1987 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Her mother is a Philippine, her dad’s background is Scottish Irish. Both her parents are financially active. She’s got a younger brother, Sean.
From an early age, Shay had shown an interest in arts and theatre and decided to follow her career. When she was five, she took dance lessons. She and a group of dancers visited the town and competed at several dance schools.
Her family moved to West Vancouver, British Columbia when she was ten. A year later, there was an opportune opportunity to knock at the door of Mitchell. An international modelling agency called for teenagers and pre-teen girls looking for chances for modelling. She decided to try it and soon found a position among the handful chosen.
Before joining West Vancouver Secondary School, she graduated from ‘Rockridge Secondary School.’ Her pals called Mitchell, a great fan of Jennifer Lopez alias JLo, ‘Shay Lo’ which eventually led to her nickname ‘Shay.’
When she was in her late adolescence, she had become a model for herself. For a variety of firms in different cities, including Bangkok, Hong Kong and Barcelona, she became a poster girl.
She returned to Toronto to study acting after completing her modelling assignments. She also signed with her first theatre agency and played various national advertisements. In the Canadian teenage drama show ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation,’ she even starred in the episode ‘Up Where We Belong.’
Mitchell had the biggest break in her career in December 2009. She was signed for adapting the novel series ‘Pretty Little Liars’ by the ABC Family (now Freeform). Though Mitchell was initially a ‘Spencer Hastings’ player, she finally ended up being the character of the school’s Swim Team captain, ‘Emily Fields,’ who later became the coach.
The series was a great hit with 2,47 million viewers. Shay Mitchell was critically acclaimed for her skills in acting. This was the answer for the series that was broadcast for seven seasons.
After the stunning success of ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ she was presented with other prominent TV programmes as guest roles. She appeared on the Disney XD series ‘Aaron Stone’ in 2010 and played ‘Irina Webber’ as cheerleader. Next she starred in the worldwide series ‘Rookie Blue’ and participated in a music video of the Jamaican musician Sean Paul’s ‘Hold My Hand.’
In 2012, she appeared in the real-life television series ‘Punk’d’ in the episode ‘Heather Morris.’ She acted as the judge for the 2015 ‘Project Runway’ at the ‘Fashion Week: Who’s In and Who’s Out.’
In the American comedy-drama film ‘Dreamland’ in 2016, she made her big screen debut when she played ‘Nicole.’ The picture opened for positive reviews and was also lauded by the critics. She performed in the same year in a romantic comedy called ‘Mother’s Day,’ where she was acting as ‘Tina,’ who marries Jennifer Aniston’s ex-husband of ‘Sandy. She was regarded on ‘Live! With Kelly and Michael’ as the guest co-host.
In September 2017, she took the lead in the ABC pilot ‘The Heiresses,’ which was adapted in the same name book by Sara Shepard.
In 2018, she started her ‘BÉIS’ travel brand. She portrayed the leading role of ‘Megan Reed’ in a terror thriller titled ‘Hannah Grace’ the same year. It was directed by Diederik Van Rooijen and written on 30 November 2018 by Brian Sieve.In 2019, she was cast in a comedy online TV series entitled ‘Dollface’ to play ‘Stella Cole.’
Besides acting, she also tried to write her hand. With Michaela Blaney, she co-authored the adult fiction ‘Bliss.’ It was launched in 2015. It also offers its own lifestyle channel YouTube.
She is featured in American Films and TV series. Her most popular roles are Trese, Dollface, You, Project Runway, Glee, Punk’d, Rookie Blue, Aaron Stone, Pretty Little Liars, Degrassi: The Next Generation.
She also appeared in movies like Hannah Grace’s Possession, Unicorn Island, Mother’s Day, Dreamland, etc. The Young Hollywood Award, Teen Choice Awards, People Choice Awards, MTV Fandom Awards etc, have been presented to She.
Shay Mitchell is a Canadian actress, model, and businessman. She is most recognised for her role as ‘Emily Fields’ in the ‘Pretty Little Liars’ freeform series. A great lover of Jennifer Lopez, Mitchell became nicknamed among her pals as ‘Shay Lo.’ She acquired a penchant for performing arts throughout her childhood and even discussed a profession in the same with her parents. She was able to exercise in dance and modelling and attended acting lessons in Toronto. After several commercials and guest parts in the television series, when Mitchell was cast to portray the role of ‘Emily Fields’ in ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ she had her big break. Both critics and fans applauded her acting skills. She subsequently went on to show films such as ‘Dreamland,’ ‘Mother’s Day’ and ‘Hannah Grace’ on the big screen. Shay Mitchell also went on to write besides performing; she co-authored an adult newspaper called ‘Bliss’ with Michaela Blaney.