Biography

Megan Follows

Jump to

Overview

Born
March 14, 1968 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Birth name
Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows
Nickname
- Meg
Height
5′ 4″ (1.63 m)

Biography

Megan (pronounced Mee-gan) has two children, daughter Lyla and son Russel. She comes from a showbiz family: father Ted Follows, mother Dawn Greenhalgh, and sister Samantha Follows are all actors; her other sister, Edwina Follows, is a producer and writer; and her brother Laurence Follows is a producer. Has done many commercials, her first when she was 9. Has appeared in many theatrical productions, including "Romeo and Juliet", "The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds", and "Seven Lears: The Pursuit of the Good." Won two Gemini awards for her performances in Anne of Green Gables (1985) and Anne of Avonlea (1987). Megan met her husband, Christopher Porter, while filming Deep Sleep (1990), in which he was a gaffer.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
Megan Elizabeth Follows was the last child born to Ted Follows and Dawn Greenhalgh in Toronto Ontario, Canada. Her parents were part of the founding members of Canada's summer-theatre culture and Megan began acting as a toddler with her siblings: Edwina Follows, Laurence Follows, and Samantha Follows. After her parents divorced when she was 11, Megan moved to Los Angeles to attend school and launch her acting career. She got her break on the hit television show The Facts of Life (1979), and quickly became recognized after her performance in the internationally-renowned Anne of Green Gables (1985), for which she won the 1986 Gemini Award for best actress.

After working on some other feature films for television, Megan returned once again to portray Anne Shirley in Anne of Avonlea (1987), for which she won the 1987 Ace award for best actress and the 1988 Gemini Award for best actress. She took a break from the spotlight and decided to focus on studying theatre. She made her stage debut in 1988 in a production of "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" which also starred her sister Samantha and their mother Dawn.

During the 1990s Megan focused on Shakespeare and raising a family. In 1991, Megan married Christopher Porter whom she had met on the set of Deep Sleep (1990). In 1992, news spread across Canada celebrating the birth of her first child, Lyla Anne. While Lyla was still an infant, Megan got the role of a lifetime to star as Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1993) at Canada's Stratford Festival. After the birth of their second child, Russel, Megan and Christopher divorced in 1996. Following her divorce, Megan was in a relationship with Stuart Hughes from 1996 to 2010.

Megan's portrays of an autistic savant in Under the Piano (1996) gained her more recognition and respect in the acting world; although unfortunately, she never received a nomination for her work. In 2000, Megan returned to the third installment of the Anne series to once again portray Anne Shirley as she became Anne Shirley Blythe in Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000), which took a turn from the original books on which it was based. Fans across the world, and even Megan had mixed emotions about the storyline of the film. However her return to the character earned her a nomination for the 2000 Gemini Award for best actress. Megan keeps a good balance of working on stage and on camera in both TV guest appearances and lead roles in feature films; as well as raising her two children.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trivia

Her mother Dawn Greenhalgh starred with her in Anne of Green Gables (1985) as Mrs. Cadbury, the stern headmistress of the orphanage where Anne is brought to at the beginning of the film.
Has two children with ex-husband Christopher Porter: Lyla Anne (born December 1991) aka Lyla Porter-Follows and Russell Porter-Follows (b. 13 July 1994).
She played the younger version of her mother Dawn Greenhalgh's character in Interview with a Werewolf (1999).
She has been acting since age 10 and went to Hollywood at 14 to guest-star in the television sitcom "The Facts of Life", then had her own series, "Domestic Life".
Became a U.S. citizen. Has dual Canadian/American citizenship.

Quotes

You see the allure of theatre. You see the jealousy. You see the frustration. All of it. My parents lived, breathed, ate and slept theatre. Emotions were right on the surface. Growing up, the unreal had as much importance as the real. - MF, 2005 interview
I do experience more scrutiny because of [Anne of Green Gables], but I have come to the conclusion, for my own sanity, that I can only choose things according to my own barometer of what I'm trying to achieve or how I'm stretching and reaching. That's all I really have in my control. - MF, 2005 interview
[on the title role in 'Anne of Green Gables'] It was not an easy character. She's iconic, so people think they know what she is, but she was multifaceted. She was not the appendage of a male character; she was number one. She had a lot of character defects that were fantastic to play. She had an uncontrollable temper; she was a compulsive talker; she had a rich fantasy life - all of which were products of the fact she was an orphan and raised in undesirable circumstances. And it is her intellect, her wit which turns that around and turns the community around. I think that is why that is why that story has had lasting power.
[remembering her "Anne Of Green Gables" co-star and friend Jonathan Crombie] Truly I just remember at times just laughing so hard that you'd just be crying. He was so playful and silly and as I said really bright, so his humor was always informed with that, which made him even funnier. He had that beautiful face. He was a lot of fun, he was very open so you just felt he was someone who really wanted to play and it really was a new experience for him. We were all just in it to do the best that we could and we had a lot of fun.
I like to say Reign (2013) is the 24 (2001) of the pre-Renaissance. I think we're going to take a lot of liberties with history, as well as extend it over a longer period of time.