Last edited March 2012
Alyssa-Rose Ellery Williams (born 18 March 1989) is a British-American actress and singer. Born in Guildford, Surrey and raised in Los Angeles, Williams began performing on screen at the age of two in the BBC sitcom Growing Pains. In the late 2000s, Williams began acting, singing, and songwriting more regularly after she'd discovered her perfect singing voice, and she had a career breakthrough with her performance in the sports-drama film The Blind Side, which was the third highest-grossing film of 2009. She went on to appear as a starring role in her most popular show, and a fan's favorite all over the world, The Vampire Diaries (2009) while also fitting in new film projects in between her leading show, such as Abduction (2011), the fantasy Mirror Mirror (2012), and is currently doing weekly meetings and castings to hopefully fit her into the role of Clary Fray in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which will hopefully be released next year. Fingers crossed that she gets the role!
Alyssa-Rose Williams
Williams in May 2011
Born - Alyssa-Rose Ellery Williams
18 March 1989 (age 22)
Guildford, Surrey,
England
Citizenship - United Kingdom
United States
Occupation - Actress
Singer
Years active - 1992—present
Spouse(s) - Currently unknown
Parent(s) - Phil Williams (father)
Jill Williams (mother)
Relatives - Honey Williams (sister)
Simon Williams (brother)
Nicholas Williams (brother)
Early life
Alyssa-Rose Ellery Williams was born on 18 March 1989 in Guildford, Surrey, the daughter of English musician Phil Williams and his second wife, Jill Williams, an American who is the former president of the Beverly Hills Women's Club. Her maternal grandfather was a Canadian Jewish immigrant who for many years owned a men's clothing store in Beverly Hills, California. Williams is the half-sister of actress Honey Williams and musician Simon Williams from her father's first marriage, and she has one other younger brother who shares both of the same parents, Nicholas Williams.
After her older half-siblings had moved out to go onto bigger and better things, Williams moved to Los Angeles with her parents and younger brother. She graduated from Harvard-Westlake School and attended the University of Southern California, majoring in broadcast journalism. She was presented as a debutante at the Bal des débutantes in Paris in 2007. As a teenager, Williams suffered from an eating disorder that she later revealed in her book, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me.
Career
Williams at the 2010 The Blind Side premiere
Williams began acting at the age of two in the BBC series Growing Pains. In 2003 was when Williams was first truly noticed for her outstanding acting in the movie Peter Pan, starring as Wendy Darling, where she had met and became great friends with Jeremy Sumpter, and they are still friends to this day. In 2006, Williams later increased her rising fame by starring in High School Musical as Gabriella Montez, but Williams has not been seen talking to any of the cast, including Zac Efron himself, since December 2008. In 2009, Williams appeared in two episodes of the teen drama series 90210, including the first season's finale. Later that year, Williams had her breakthrough starring in the film The Blind Side as Collins Tuohy, the daughter of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock's character). The film was a commercial success, grossing over $250 million at the box-office and emerging as the highest-grossing sports drama of all time.
In 2007, at the age of 18, Williams first discovered what an outstanding voice she possessed when she sang at a talent show hosted at her college. The audience was astounded, and only a two years later in 2009, Williams introduced her first album to the world: 'Insecure', which is all about spreading awareness, which mainly involves eating disorders, which Williams had only just been starting to recover from when the album was released. Her second album is rumored to be released near the end of 2012!
In 2011, she played the warrior priest's daughter Lucy in the thriller Priest, opposite Paul Bettany. Although it was a critical and commercial failure, she earned praise for her performance; MTV Networks' NextMovie.com named her one of the Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011. She co-starred in the 2011 action film Abduction only recently with rumored boyfriend Taylor Lautner.
Image and activism
Williams covered the 2008 US presidential election as a host on the Nickelodeon series Kids Pick the President. She won a 2008 Young Hollywood Award for Newest Red Carpet Correspondent. Williams was one of 20 women named by Maxim magazine as one of the Hottest Daughters of Rock Stars in 2009.
Williams is an outspoken anti-bullying advocate and is serving as a Celebrity Ambassador to anti-bullying organization Bystander Revolution. Williams is currently in the middle of planning an anti-bullying GO Campaign between her busy schedule, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness and funds to improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable children around the world.
Personal life
Williams dated Taylor Lautner after working together on the 2010 film Abduction. However, their romance ended just before the movie's premiere. "It was a clean break that Taylor initiated," a source told Us Weekly at the time. Williams also dated Zac Efron for three months from January to March of this year. "They're no longer together. They were never serious, though; it was just a casual thing and it fizzled," an insider told the publication. "They were never in the same place at the same time."
Those seem to be the only two public relationships that Alyssa-Rose Williams has had in her lifetime.