Kristin Kreuk

Kristin Laura Kreuk (born December 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress and executive producer, best known for her roles as Lana Lang in the Superman-inspired television series Smallville and as Laurel Yeung in the Canadian teen drama Edgemont. She has also starred in movies such as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy. Kreuk's latest role is as Catherine Chandler in The CW's series Beauty & the Beast. --- Kreuk was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her father, Peter Kreuk, is of Dutch descent; her mother, Deanna Che, is of Chinese descent, but was born in Indonesia; and her maternal grandmother was born in Jamaica. Both parents are landscape architects. She has a sister named Justine, who is about five years younger. Kreuk trained in karate (she has a purple belt) and gymnastics at the national level until high school but quit in grade 11 due to scoliosis. After filming the first season of Edgemont (a teenage soap opera set at a Vancouver-area high school) and getting herself an agent, Kreuk landed the lead role of Snow White in a TV movie titled Snow White: The Fairest of Them All. The film, shot in Vancouver, also starred Miranda Richardson and was directed by Caroline Thompson. It aired on ABC, and later released on DVD, in 2002. In 2003, Kreuk ended her role on Edgemont. In mid-2004, Kreuk took the role of Tenar for the Sci Fi Channel two-part miniseries Legend of Earthsea. The miniseries was filmed in Vancouver, directed by Rob Lieberman and broadcast on December 13, 2004. After Snow White, Kreuk's agent sent an audition tape to screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who at the time were putting together the cast of a show they had created for the WB Network entitled Smallville. The series, which was slated to be shot in Vancouver, revolves around the life of teenager Clark Kent before he becomes Superman. Gough and Millar called Kreuk to WB's studios in Burbank, California to audition for the role of Clark Kent's first love, Lana Lang. She was the first cast for the show. After seven seasons, Kreuk left Smallville in the beginning of 2008, when her character leaves town. She returned as a guest star in the show's season eight for five episodes to conclude her storyline. --- Kreuk currently resides in Toronto for the shooting of Beauty & the Beast. When not acting she resides in her hometown Vancouver with her French bulldog Dublin. Kreuk stated on Live! with Kelly and Michael in October 2012 that she is a pescatarian and eats salmon.