Monique Adrienne Coleman (born on November 13, 1980) is an American actress and singer known for being one of the co-stars of the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, in which she plays Taylor McKessie. Coleman also has a recurring role on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, as a school girl named Mary-Margaret. She also competed in the third edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, finishing in fourth place.
Early life and education
Monique Coleman was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina and started her acting career in theatre and television at a very young age in Columbia, South Carolina. She currently lives in Los Angeles. Her training began at the Workshop Theatre School of Dramatic Arts where she performed in over 15 plays. An acting class taught by a guest teacher actually turned out to be an audition, and resulted in her booking her first commercial. Then Coleman then began auditioning for anything she could in the Southeast region, landing several local and regional commercials as well as a few supporting roles in films. In addition to acting, Coleman was very involved in her community and school where she did everything from performing in plays to competing in forensic tournaments, volunteering with abused children, running track, and even cheerleading.
Coleman went to Heathwood Hall Episcopal School. Then, she attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, earning her BFA in Acting in 2002.
Career
Monique Coleman made her first lead in the independent feature entitled Mother of the River which was shot in the historic Charleston, South Carolina. The film won numerous awards at film festivals in Chicago. Two years later, Coleman appeared as Young Donna in The Family Channel Movie The Ditchdigger's Daughters for which she was nominated for a Young Artists Award of Hollywood. During her sophomore year of high school, Coleman wrote, directed, produced, and starred in her own one-person play entitled "Voices from Within" with standing room only - audience numbering in the hundreds. On stage in Chicago, Coleman starred in productions of Noises Off, Polaroid Stories, The Real Thing and The Colored Museum.
In 2005, Coleman had the honor of working opposite one of her heroes - the legendary James Earl Jones when she played Leesha in the 2005 Hallmark TV Movie The Reading Room. She received a 2006 Camie Award for the role and represented the film at the NAACP Image Awards. In 2006, Coleman co-starred in High School Musical as Taylor McKessie, best friend of the new brainiac girl Gabriella Montez played by Vanessa Hudgens. Then, she was a recurring guest star in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody episodes, Forever Plaid, Not So Suite 16, and Neither a Borrower Nor a Speller Bee along with Vanessa Hudgens. Prior to that she guest-starred in The Suite Life season one episode A Prom Story. Coleman has had seven other guest appearances on the television shows Boston Public, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Strong Medicine, 10-8: Officers on Duty, Married to the Kellys, and Veronica Mars. Coleman was also in the first ever Disney Channel Games in 2006, on the Blue Team (with Brenda Song, Corbin Bleu, Cole Sprouse, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jason Earles) and in the second Disney Channel Games in 2007 on the Green Team (with Dylan Sprouse, Miley Cyrus, Lucas Grabeel and Brandon Baker). She won with both teams.
Since the debut of Disney Channel's Original Movie High School Musical in January 2006, Coleman has traveled to Sydney, Australia and London, England for promotions as well as appearing on shows such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN Showbiz Tonight and TRL. She has been voted as one of Teen People's 25 hottest stars under 25, and has been featured in Bop, Popstar, Tigerbeat, Cosmo Girl, Word Up, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, Newsweek, and in other international publications. In July 2007, she appeared along with Rihanna on the cover of the African-American hairstyle magazine Black Hair. On April 13, 2007, Coleman finished filming the highly anticipated High School Musical 2, which was shown on Disney Channel USA in August 2007. The movie was the highest rated basic cable broadcast of all time.
During the Teen Choice Awards 2006, Coleman and the cast of High School Musical accepted the award for Choice TV Show in the category of Comedy/Musical for which Coleman thanked her fans and encouraged them to vote for her on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
Monique Coleman also appeared on Tour with High School Musical: The Concert. She showcased her new ballroom skills in Dance With Me, While she partnered National Youth Latin Champion Jared Murillo. Andrew Seeley was the soloist. She is the host of Disney's 3 Minute Game Show on Disney Channel. Recently she recorded a song called Christmas vacation for the holiday album entitled A Disney Channel Holiday
Dancing with the Stars
Coleman competed in the Fall 2006 third edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars reality dance competition. She was paired with professional partner Louis van Amstel throughout the competition. van Amstel and the judges praised her for "taking risks" during the competition. The pair appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show before they were eliminated and performed the same dance the performed in week 2's episode. She was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars on November 1, 2006, finishing fourth in the competition. She was the last girl in the contest that year. Coleman was very gracious in defeat, and appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show on the same night as the Results Show to thank her fans for their votes and support. Beginning in late December 2007, Monique will partake in the Dancing with the Stars tour that will take her across America along with other former competitors until early February 2008.
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