Biography
Launched to fame by her role as Lindsey Strauss in "One Tree Hill" (The WB, 2003-2012), actress Michaela McManus then became a fixture of US TV schedules with recurring parts in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ), "The Vampire Diaries" (The CW, 2009-17) and "Aquarius" (NBC, 2015-16). Born in Warwick, RI in 1983, McManus spent several years honing her craft, graduating from Fordham University with a degree in theatre before attending New York University's acting program and studying Shakespeare at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. McManus made her acting debut with a minor role in short film "Cosa Bella" (2006), and took the lead in the MTV Movie Awards-winning short "The Beautiful Life" (2006) in the same year, but her real breakthrough arrived in 2008 when she was cast as Lindsey Strauss in teen drama "One Tree Hill" (The WB, 2003-2012), where her book editor character fell in and out of love with the show's heartthrob Lucas Scott over the course of 17 episodes. Following a guest spot in "CSI: NY" (CBS, 2004-2013), McManus landed her second regular gig with the part of Assistant District Attorney Kim Greylek in long-running spin-off "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999-) and added one-off appearances in "Castle" (ABC, 2009-) and "CSI: Miami" (CBS, 2002-2012) to her resume. McManus then swapped the police procedural for the supernatural when she joined the cast of "The Vampire Diaries" (The CW, 2009-17) as vengeful werewolf Jules, ironically killing the character of Rose that McManus originally auditioned for. A year later, she made her film debut in the comedy "About Fifty" (2011), guested as D.A. Roberts on "Hawaii Five-0" (CBS, 2010-) and played the Movie Woman in indie drama "Cafe" (2011). McManus then appeared in "Funeral Kings" (2012), a coming-of-age drama about two tearaway altar boys directed by her brothers Kevin and Michael, before returning to the small screen, firstly as tennis instructor Tara in short-lived fantasy thriller "Awake" (NBC, 2012) and secondly as aggressive news reporter Noelle Saris in sports drama "Necessary Roughness" (USA Network, 2011-13). After a brief return to the CSI franchise in "CSI: Crime Investigation" (CBS, 2000-2015), McManus played Lt. Jackie Makena in the adaptation of William Brinkley's post-apocalyptic thriller "The Last Ship" (TNT, 2014- ), James Marsden's girlfriend Kaley in killer bear adventure "Into The Grizzly Maze" (2014) and David Duchovny's ex-wife Grace in Charles Manson drama "Aquarius" (NBC, 2015-16).
