Amanda Schull Biography

Amanda Schull (born August 26, 1978) is an American actress and former professional ballet dancer.

Life and career

Schull was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She attended Punahou School and trained at Hawaii State Ballet under the instruction of John Landovsky. As shown in her biographies, she attributes her training to Ballet Hawaii as well. After years of training she was offered a full scholarship to Indiana University for ballet. While at Indiana University she joined Delta Delta Delta. During Schull's sophomore year (as a ballet and journalism major) she attended the San Francisco Ballet School Summer Intensive. SFBS subsequently offered Schull a scholarship to continue her studies for an additional year.

When Schull's year-long scholarship ended in 1999, San Francisco Ballet's artistic director offered her an apprenticeship which she accepted. Schull was cast in the starring role of Jody Sawyer in the 2000 movie Center Stage while still an apprentice with SFB. She subsequently joined SFB as a full-time member of its corps de ballet. In the fall of 2000, she got the role of Davina Mayhan, Midge's older sister in the sitcom My Family And Me, replacing actress Cassidy Rae in the third season.

In April 2006, Schull retired from San Francisco Ballet. In May 2008 she went to Australia to film the movie adaptation of Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer. In Mao's Last Dancer, released in North America in 2010, Schull has a major role as Elizabeth "Liz" Mackey, the girlfriend (and later, first wife) of Li Cunxin.

In 2009, Schull had a guest star role on the Fox TV show, Lie to Me, season 1, episode 4. She was recently seen in the Lifetime Movie Sorority Wars starring Lucy Hale and Courtney Thorne-Smith. She also guest stars on The CW's One Tree Hill as Sara, the spirit and memory of the deceased wife of Clay (played by Robert Buckley), and also as Clay's wannabe lover who bears a striking resemblance to Sara - Katie Ryan. She guest starred in an episode of Ghost Whisperer (Greek Tragedy) in 2009, and episode 14 of Bones, in 2010. Schull stars as Meredith, who is Aria's (Lucy Hale's character) dad's former lover, in the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars. She also appeared in an episode of Hawaii Five-0. In March 2012, she appeared in a McDonald's commercial for the Shamrock Shake and in April she guest starred in an episode of Psych. She has also just recently appeared in an episode of "Grimm" as Lucinda, a character who resembles Cinderella with a twist. In 2013, she appeared in the recurring role of Katrina Bennett in USA's Suits.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Center Stage	Jody Sawyer
2007	Women on Top	Becca King
2009	Mao's Last Dancer	Elizabeth Mackey
2009	Sorority Wars	Gwen	TV film
2011	J. Edgar	Anita Colby
2012	Imaginary Friend	Brittany	TV film
2013	The Hunt for the Labrynth Killer	Shelby Cook	TV film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000"2007	My Family and Me	Davina Mayhan-Van Buren	Series regular (seasons 3-9)
2008	The Cleaner	Aileen	"Five Little Words" (season 1: episode 12)
2008	Cold Case	Allison 'Ally' Thurston	"Wings" (season 6: episode 11)
2009	Ghost Whisperer	Emily Harris	"Greek Tragedy" (season 4: episode 15)
2009	Lie to Me	Phoebe Headling	"Love Always" (season 1: episode 4)
2009"2010	One Tree Hill	Sara Evans / Katie Ryan	Recurring role; 13 episodes
2010	Bones	Neviah Larkin	"The Devil in the Details" (season 5: episode 14)
2010"2013	Pretty Little Liars	Meredith Sorenson	Recurring role; 7 episodes
2011	Hawaii Five-0	Nicole Duncan	"Ke Kinohi" (season 1: episode 13) "He Kane Hewa' Ole" (season 1: episode 14)
2011	Castle	Joy Jones	"Pretty Dead" (season 3: episode 23)
2011	Two and a Half Men	Alicia	"Thank You for the Intercourse" (season 9: episode 8)
2012	Psych	Thea Summers / Dalia Towne	"Santabarbaratown" (season 6: episode 16)
2012	Grimm	Lucinda Jarvis	"Happily Ever Aftermath" (season 1: episode 20)
2012	The Mentalist	Marcy Victor	"Red Rover, Red Rover" (season 4: episode 23)
2012	Vegas	Carol Reyes	"Money Plays" (season 1: episode 2)
2013	Suits	Katrina Bennett	Recurring role
2013	Nikita	Naomi Ceaver	"Black Badge" (season 3: episode 11)