Nikki Reed

Nikki Reed
Somerhalder at the ASPCA Awards in October 2014
Born	Nicole Houston Reed (1988-05-17) May 17, 1988 (age 28) West Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, screenwriter, model, singer-songwriter, music video director
Years active	2003–present
Spouse(s)	Paul McDonald (m. 2011; div. 2015) Ian Somerhalder (m. 2015)

Nicole Houston "Nikki" Reed (born May 17, 1988) is an American actress, screenwriter, singer-songwriter, and model known to the general public for her portrayal of vampire Rosalie Hale in The Twilight Saga (2008–2012). She became known in 2003, after the release of the film Thirteen, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, for which she was credited with Hardwicke as a co-writer of the screenplay, and in which she played a lead role. The film earned Reed an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance, as well as several nominations.

Reed was born in West Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Cheryl Houston, a beautician, and Seth Reed, a production designer. She has an older brother, Nathan August Reed, and a younger half-brother Joey Reed.

Reed has said in numerous interviews that her early home life was "complicated". Her parents divorced when Reed was two, and she was raised by her mother. Her mother is of Cherokee and Italian descent. Her father is Jewish. Reed was raised without religion and has identified as Jewish. She grew up around some Jewish practices, as her brother had a Bar Mitzvah.

In 2002, when Reed was 14 years old, she moved out of her mother's house and began living on her own, mainly in apartments in the Los Angeles area. After Thirteen's success, Reed returned to Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, but dropped out again after a year. She said that "mothers who were sneaking into the school at lunchtime to confront and harass her about the film" were the reason for her departure. She earned a high school diploma through homeschooling. She is a vegetarian.