Vanessa Morgan

Canadian actress Vanessa Morgan graduated from juvenile roles on kid-friendly programming in her native country like "My Babysitter's a Vampire" (Teletoon, 2011-2012) to more mature fare in the United States, including sexually ambigious characters on "The Shannara Chronicles" (MTV, 2016-) and "Riverdale" (The CW, 2017- ). Born March 23, 1992 in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Morgan was discovered at the age of nine while singing at a festival in California, and began her public career in television commercials, as well as national pageants like Junior Miss America competition, which she won in 1999. She made her screen debut the following year in the VH1 TV-movie "A Diva's Christmas Carol" (2000), playing an adolescent version of star Vanessa L. Williams' miserly pop star, and landed her first major role in 2007 as a teenaged fashionista in the Canadian teen series "The Latest Buzz" (Family, 2007-2010). After graduating from Colonel By Secondary School in 2010, Morgan worked more steadily in Canadian TV, playing the antagonist to Jennifer Stone's aspiring amateur agent in "Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars" (Disney Channel, 2010) and a teenaged bloodsucker in "My Babysitter's a Vampire" (Teletoon, 2010). She reprised her role for a subsequent series of the same name for Teletoon in 2011 and 2012, pausing briefly to appear with her sister, Celina, as a competitor on the debut season of "The Amazing Race Canada" (CTV, 2013- ), before returning to Canadian TV with guest appearances on popular teen series like "Degrassi" (CTV/MTV Canada, 2001-2015) and a recurring role as a shy teen on "Finding Hope" (MTV, 2014-2015). Morgan's breakout year came in 2017 with major recurring roles in two high-profile series: on MTV's fantasy drama "The Shannara Chronicles," she was cast as Lyria, a mysterious young woman with a romantic connection to Ivana Baquero's heroine, Eretria, while on "Riverdale," she was tapped to play bisexual teen Toni Topaz. The character, who was positioned to drive a wedge between Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and Betty (Lili Reinhart), was not welcomed by some of the show's more ardent fans, as Morgan reported receiving negative response and even apparent death threats over her character's potential arc.