Mia Kirshner

Mia Kirshner (born January 25, 1975) is a Canadian actress, writer, and social activist. She is known for television roles as Mandy in 24 (2001–2005), as Jenny Schecter in The L Word (2004–2009), as Amanda Grayson in Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2019) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and as Isobel Flemming in The Vampire Diaries (2010–2011). Her film credits include Love and Human Remains (1993), Exotica (1994), The Crow: City of Angels (1996), Mad City (1997), Not Another Teen Movie (2001), and The Black Dahlia (2006).

Early life Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Etti (Henrietta), a teacher, and Sheldon Kirshner, a journalist who wrote for The Canadian Jewish News. Kirshner is a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors; Kirshner's paternal grandparents were Polish Jews (of Ashkenazi Jewish descent). Kirshner had a middle class upbringing, and attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute but later graduated from Jarvis Collegiate Institute. Kirshner studied Russian literature and the 20th-century movie industry at McGill University in Montreal. Her younger sister, Lauren Kirshner, a writer, was involved in the I Live Here project.

Career

Kirshner started her career in 1989 in "Loving the Alien", a second-season episode of War of the Worlds, as both Jo, a young resistance fighter who is captured and duplicated by the enemy aliens, and her doppelgänger. Kirshner made her film debut in 1993 at the age of 18 in Denys Arcand's Love and Human Remains. She convinced her father to sign a "nudity waiver" to play a dominatrix. The following year, she starred as a conflicted exotic dancer in Atom Egoyan's Exotica. In 1996, she appeared in The Crow: City of Angels. She also played Kitty Scherbatsky in the 1997 version of Anna Karenina.

Kirshner also appeared in the first three episodes of 24 as the assassin Mandy in 2001. She would later reprise the role for the second season's finale and in the latter half of the show's fourth season. Also in 2001, Kirshner played Catherine Wyler, "The Cruelest Girl in School", in Not Another Teen Movie. The character is primarily a spoof of Kathryn Merteuil (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) in Cruel Intentions, and was partially based on Mackenzie Siler (played by Anna Paquin) from She's All That. In Marilyn Manson's music video for "Tainted Love", which was featured on the movie's soundtrack, she made a cameo appearance as her character Catherine Wyler.

In 2004, Kirshner was cast as writer Jenny Schecter, a main character in the drama series The L Word. She remained with the show through 2009, for all six seasons.

In 2006, she starred in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia in which she plays the young aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, whose mutilation and murder in 1947 remains unsolved. While the film itself was critically panned, many reviews singled out her performance for acclaim. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com, in a largely negative review, notes that the eponymous character was "played wonderfully by Mia Kirshner..." In 2010, she was cast as Isobel Flemming, a guest role on The Vampire Diaries.

On April 20, 2012, it was announced that Kirshner would join the new Syfy series Defiance.

On October 9, 2013, it was mentioned on the Showcase blog that Kirshner would be one of several guest stars in season four of the television series Lost Girl.

From 2017 to 2019, she played the recurring role of Amanda Grayson, mother of Spock and foster mother of series protagonist Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery (a role originated by Jane Wyatt on the original Star Trek). She later reprised the role in an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

On September 5, 2019, Entertainment Tonight news outlet ET Online reported that Kirshner would play a character in Lifetime's film The College Admissions Scandal with co-star Penelope Ann Miller in roles inspired by real-life actresses Lori Loughlin's and Felicity Huffman's involvement in a massive college admissions bribery scam. Describing her role, Kirshner was quoted saying "This story is about privilege and corruption and it's about people who don't follow the rules because they think they're above rules... My character [based on Loughlin but named "Bethany" in the film] is so corrupt, greedy, narcissistic, self-centered, and the dialogue is hilarious, so I'm glad that they're able to capture humor about this as well."

In September 2020, it was announced that Kirshner would co-star with Ben Savage in a Hallmark Channel holiday film entitled Love, Lights, Hanukkah!, which premiered on December 12, 2020. Kirshner plays a restaurant owner named Christina, who learns of her Jewish ancestry through a DNA test.

Philanthropy In October 2008, after seven years in production, Kirshner published the book I Live Here, which she co-produced with ex-Adbusters staffers Paul Shoebridge and Michael Simons, as well as writer James MacKinnon. In the book, four different groups of women and children refugees from places such as Chechnya, Juárez, Burma and Malawi tell their life stories. The book features original material from comic and graphic artists including Joe Sacco and Phoebe Gloeckner. It was published in the U.S. by Random House/Pantheon. It was supported logistically by Amnesty International, which will receive proceeds from the book. After the release of the book, the Center for International Studies at MIT invited Kirshner to run a four-week course on I Live Here in January 2009.

In popular culture Kirshner was ranked #43 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. She and Beverly Polcyn were nominated for Best Kiss at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards for Not Another Teen Movie. In 2011, it was announced that Kirshner would be the face of Monica Rich Kosann's jewellery collection.

Personal life Kirshner was in a relationship with actor and playwright Sam Shepard from 2014 to 2015.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1993 Love and Human Remains Benita Cadillac Girls Page 1994 Exotica Christina 1995 Murder in the First Rosetta Young Maude Riordan 1996 Sarah Mohr 1997 Anna Karenina Kitty Mad City Laurie Callahan 1999 Speed of Life Sarah Out of the Cold Deborah Berkowitz 2000 Innocents Dominique Denright Cowboys and Angels Candice 2001 Century Hotel Dominique According to Spencer Melora Not Another Teen Movie Catherine Wyler 2002 New Best Friend Alicia Campbell Now & Forever Angela Wilson 2003 Party Monster Natasha Gatien 2005 Rebecca 2006 The Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short 2008 Miss Conception Clem 2010 30 Days of Night: Dark Days Lilith Direct-to-video film 2011 388 Arletta Avenue Amy Walker 2012 Cynthia Vineyard 2013 I Think I Do Julia 2016 Milton's Secret Jane Adams 2017 Fiona 2021 Crisis Susan Reimann

Television Year Title Role Notes 1989 War of the Worlds Jo Crane Episode: "Loving the Alien" 1990 Danger Bay Catherine Walker Episode: "Live Wires" 1990–1991 Dracula: The Series Sophie Metternich Main role 1991 E.N.G. Risa Timerman Episode: "Suffer the Little Children" My Secret Identity Alana Porter Episode: "My Other Secret Identity" 1991–1992 Tropical Heat Cathy Paige / Sandy 2 episodes: "Runaway" , "Stranger in Paradise" 1992 Road to Avonlea Emily Everett-Smythe Episode: "High Society" Are You Afraid of the Dark? Pam / Dora Pease Episode: "The Tale of the Hungry Hounds" 1995 Johnny's Girl Amy Ross Television film 2001–2002 Wolf Lake Ruby Cates Main role 2001–2005 24 Mandy Recurring role 2004–2009 Jenny Schecter Main role 2007 They Come Back Faith Hardy Television film 2009 April May Episode: "Does Everybody Have a Drink?" CSI: NY Deborah Carter Episode: "Dead Reckoning" 2010–2011 Isobel Flemming Recurring role (seasons 1–2) 2012 Kiss at Pine Lake Zoe McDowell Television film 2013 Christy Bennett Graceland Ashika Pearl Episode: "Pizza Box" Lost Girl Clio Episodes: "In Memoriam", "Sleeping Beauty School", "Lovers. Apart." 2013–2014 Defiance Kenya Rosewater Main role 2015 Bloodline Sarah Rayburn 3 episodes Reluctant Witness Erin Villenueve Television film 2016 Real Detective Detective Mannina Episode: "No One Is Safe" 2017–2019 Star Trek: Discovery Amanda Grayson Recurring role 2019 The College Admissions Scandal Bethany Slade Television film 2020 Love, Lights, Hanukkah! Christina Hallmark Television film 2023 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Amanda Grayson Episode: "Charades"

Video games 24: The Game (2006), as Mandy