Megan Follows

Megan Follows
Megan Follows at CSA
Born	Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows March 14, 1968 (1968-03-14) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian American
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1968-present
Spouse(s)	Christopher Porter (m. 1991–96)
Children	2

Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows (born March 14, 1968) is a Canadian-American actress and voice artist best known to international audiences for her roles as Anne Shirley in the 1985 Canadian television miniseries Anne of Green Gables and two of its sequels, and as Catherine de' Medici in The CW television series Reign.

Follows was born in Toronto, Ontario, the youngest of four children, in an acting family. Her father is Canadian theatre actor and director Ted Follows, and her mother is Canadian actress Dawn Greenhalgh; her parents later divorced. Her three siblings are all in the entertainment industry. Her elder sister Edwina is a writer, while her brother Laurence and sister Samantha Follows (who is married to American actor Sean O'Bryan) are also actors.

Her first acting job came at the age of nine, when she landed a spot in a commercial for Bell Canada. She was directed to make an impudent gesture out of a school bus window – like sticking out her tongue - but ended up making a rather obscene adult gesture instead. She found steady work in Canada, appearing in a few TV series such as Matt and Jenny, The Baxters, and The Littlest Hobo, in which she guest-starred with her entire family in a three-part episode. She also starred in the short film Boys and Girls (1983), which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.

Follows's breakthrough occurred when she was cast as Anne Shirley in the miniseries Anne of Green Gables (as well as its two sequels). The part of "Anne" was a coveted role that she won over 3,000 other young girls when director, producer, and writer Kevin Sullivan chose her despite early worries during the audition process that she might be too old for the part. The miniseries, wholly produced in Canada, became successful around the world, and remains to this day the highest-rated drama in Canadian television history. Follows gained a substantial fan-following for her portrayal of the popular literary character. Her performances earned her two Gemini awards as best actress for the first two miniseries, Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, and a Gemini nomination for the third Anne installment, Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story. She did not reprise the role for the fourth film, Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, and Barbara Hershey took over the role of Anne.