Julia May Whelan (born May 8, 1984) is an American actress and author.
She is best known for her role as Grace Manning on the TV drama series
Once and Again (1999-2002), and her co-starring role in the 2002
Lifetime Television movie, The Secret Life of Zoey. A noted child
actor, Whelan first appeared on screen at the age of eleven, and
continued to take television roles until her matriculation into
Middlebury College in 2004; Whelan graduated magna cum laude from
Middlebury in 2008 after spending the 2006-7 academic year as a
visiting student at Lincoln College, Oxford. Whelan returned to film
acting in November 2008 with a role in the fantasy thriller Fading of
the Cries.Julia May Whelan was born in Oregon on May 8, 1984. Her
father was a firefighter and her mother a teacher. Whelan first acted
in community theater at the age of five, and yearly trips to the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon deepened her interest
in an acting career. At age ten she began acting lessons with
actor/screenwriter Geof Prysirr. Prysirr developed a close
professional and personal relationship with Whelan, eventually
becoming her guardian. Prysirr began escorting Whelan on trips to Los
Angeles, where she soon found professional success.Whelan moved to
L.A. with Prysirr and his wife, Days of Our Lives actress Derya
Ruggles, where the three took up residence in a two bedroom apartment
so that Whelan could advance her career. Whelan quickly began to win
television roles, first appearing on screen in an April 8, 1996
episode of the drama series Nowhere Man.Whelan was first introduced to
a broader audience in the 1998 TV movie Fifteen and Pregnant as the
younger sister of Kirsten Dunst, who portrayed the movie's pregnant
protagonist. In 1999 Whelan landed the role for which she is currently
best known, playing insecure teenager Grace Manning on the family
drama Once and Again. The show cast Sela Ward and Billy Campbell as
single parents trying to nurture a romance and eventually build a
blended family together.
She is best known for her role as Grace Manning on the TV drama series
Once and Again (1999-2002), and her co-starring role in the 2002
Lifetime Television movie, The Secret Life of Zoey. A noted child
actor, Whelan first appeared on screen at the age of eleven, and
continued to take television roles until her matriculation into
Middlebury College in 2004; Whelan graduated magna cum laude from
Middlebury in 2008 after spending the 2006-7 academic year as a
visiting student at Lincoln College, Oxford. Whelan returned to film
acting in November 2008 with a role in the fantasy thriller Fading of
the Cries.Julia May Whelan was born in Oregon on May 8, 1984. Her
father was a firefighter and her mother a teacher. Whelan first acted
in community theater at the age of five, and yearly trips to the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon deepened her interest
in an acting career. At age ten she began acting lessons with
actor/screenwriter Geof Prysirr. Prysirr developed a close
professional and personal relationship with Whelan, eventually
becoming her guardian. Prysirr began escorting Whelan on trips to Los
Angeles, where she soon found professional success.Whelan moved to
L.A. with Prysirr and his wife, Days of Our Lives actress Derya
Ruggles, where the three took up residence in a two bedroom apartment
so that Whelan could advance her career. Whelan quickly began to win
television roles, first appearing on screen in an April 8, 1996
episode of the drama series Nowhere Man.Whelan was first introduced to
a broader audience in the 1998 TV movie Fifteen and Pregnant as the
younger sister of Kirsten Dunst, who portrayed the movie's pregnant
protagonist. In 1999 Whelan landed the role for which she is currently
best known, playing insecure teenager Grace Manning on the family
drama Once and Again. The show cast Sela Ward and Billy Campbell as
single parents trying to nurture a romance and eventually build a
blended family together.
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