Rachelle Lefevre

Rachelle Lefevre (born February 1, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in the television series Big Wolf on Campus and had recurring roles in What About Brian, Boston Legal, and Swingtown. She played the vampire Victoria Sutherland in the first two films of the Twilight saga, before being replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard due to scheduling conflicts. In 2011, she starred in the ABC medical drama Off the Map, followed by the CBS series A Gifted Man (2011–12) and Under the Dome (2013–present). Early life Rachelle Lefevre was born on February 1, 1979, in Montreal, Quebec, where she was raised, to an English teacher father and a psychologist mother. Her father's family is originally from France and Northern Ireland, and her maternal grandparents are Jewish. Her stepfather is a rabbi. She has three sisters and speaks both English and French, though she grew up mostly speaking English. Lefevre attended Centennial Academy, a private high school, and later studied creative arts at Dawson College. She studied theater for two summers at the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts, and began a degree in education and literature at McGill University. Career While working as a waitress at a sushi bar in Westmount, a regular customer, a Canadian television producer, overheard Lefevre telling the hostess that she wanted to be an actress. The producer got Lefevre her first audition, for a role in the sitcom Student Bodies. She didn't yet have a head shot, so submitted a Polaroid picture. She didn't land the part but got a call back from the casting director, leading to a role in the Canadian TV series Big Wolf on Campus in 1999, playing Stacey Hanson. Lefevre continued attending McGill between shoots, but never finished a degree. Lefevre appeared in the film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, directed by George Clooney, in 2002. She appeared in the television movies Picking Up and Dropping Off with Scott Wolf, and See Jane Date, and had a role in the romantic comedy Hatley High in 2003. In 2004, she played Etta Place in the Calgary-filmed TV movie The Legend of Butch and Sundance. Lefevre moved to West Hollywood, California that year and appeared in the films Noel, directed by Chazz Palminteri and starring Penélope Cruz, and Head in the Clouds, also starring Cruz and Charlize Theron. In April 2004, Lefevre filmed the mystery-thriller The River King in Halifax, opposite Edward Burns. Twilight Lefevre played the renegade vampire Victoria Sutherland in the film Twilight (2008), based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. Lefevre wrote an impassioned letter to the director, explaining her desire to work with the filmmaker. Lefevre described the essence of her character as "pure evil, pure instinct, pure malice, and very feline". After reading that the author used the word "feline" to describe her character's agility, Lefevre watched lion attacks on YouTube to separate the movements of her character from those of normal people. She also took trapeze classes in preparation for the wire work in the film. Lefevre spent hours working on the costumes for her character, and described herself as "obsessed" with vampires after reading Bram Stoker's Dracula at the age of 14. Lefevre was, at times, overwhelmed by the scrutiny she received from her involvement with Twilight. She participated in a promotional tour in November 2008, where she met and signed autographs for Twilight fans at Hot Topic stores in the U.S. "It's the closest I will ever come in my life to being a rock star," she told The Canadian Press, describing an appearance on MuchMusic, where over 1,500 fans showed up in Toronto. Over 2,500 fans showed up at a Wal-Mart in Salt Lake City, where Lefevre appeared to promote the DVD release of the film. Overall though, Lefevre described herself as delighted by the attention and excitement of the fans. She appeared in New Moon, the film's sequel, based on Meyer's second novel, which she completed shooting in Vancouver in May 2009. Personal life Lefevre lives in Los Angeles, California. As of June 2009, she was dating Jamie King, an actor who played Thomas Wyatt in the Showtime television series The Tudors. In 2009, Lefevre donated $100 to Susan G. Komen for The Cure, a breast cancer charity, for every 10,000 people who followed her on Twitter. She also launched an eBay auction for the charity School On Wheels in August 2009, which provides tutoring to homeless children in Southern California. Lefevre sold t-shirts and other merchandise signed by her fellow cast members from Twilight. She is also an active supporter of Best Friends Animal Society, appearing in a public service announcement on behalf of the organization in November 2009, urging the public to adopt their next pet. As of August 2013, she was dating Chris Crary, a contestant on the reality television series Top Chef. Lefevre is a socialist.