JULIA WHELAN

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Date of Birth: May 8th, 1985 April 2000 - Lives with her guardian/acting coach, Geof Pysirr. Appearance: "The Secret Life of Zoey" (2002) "Once and Again" (1999-2002) "Cookie's Fortune" (1999) "Fifteen and Pregnant" (1998) (TV) "Christmas Every Day" (1996) (TV) "ER" (1994) "Promised Land" (1996) "Nowhere Man" (1995) Reviews for Secret Life of Zoey: (thanks to Christen!) Whelan is especially strong. As on "Once and Again," where she played Grace Manning, she brings sensitivity and intelligence to her portrait of contemporary adolescence. It's sometimes a painfully honest picture.  BY MIKE DUFFY, FREE PRESS TV CRITIC Yet the Lifetime movie...adds a crucial element to the familiar mix. Julia Whelan plays the troubled 16-year-old Zoey Carter with piercing anguish and tender understatement.  Fans of ABC's Once and Again know Whelan's talent well. She portrayed Grace, daughter of Sela Ward's character, with recognizable confusion and striking naturalness.  Seeing Whelan is reason again to lament the cancellation of Once and Again, a ratings-deprived series that dealt with teen life thoughtfully.  Whelan's searing performance...sole reason to watch The Secret Life of Zoey is to relish her once and again.  by Hal Boedeker, Sentinel Television Critic

"Girls who were my age looked like they were about 18, in these little tube tops and looking like the Mary Kay lady exploded on their faces, I think I'm younger than most of them."

Julia Whelan comes from the great Northwest where, from the age of six, she traveled to Ashland on a yearly basis to attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She began a serious pursuit of acting at age 10, when she began studying with Geof Prysirr, a mentorship that has continued for the past six years. From: abcnews.com

Quotes: About Crying: "It's the emotion every actor is afraid to show.  remember when I was first acting, I couldn't do it. Once I could do it, it took away all the fear I had of doing a dramatic script from: Angelfire.com

Plans after college: "See what else is out there." About Acting: "I don't think I could go very long without doing it. I'd miss it too much."

"I don't look like a skeleton."

After completing high school, she intends to pursue an education in both psychology and acting because she finds them equally relevant in understanding human behavior and the characters she hopes to play. From: wchstv.com