Marie Avgeropoulos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μαρία "Μαρί" Αυγεροπούλου; born 17 June 1986) is a Canadian actress and model. She is best known for her role as Octavia Blake on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television series '' The 100'' (2014–2020).

Early life

Avgeropoulos was born on 17 June 1986 in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

to Greek parents. She grew up fishing, hunting and camping, spending most of her free time outdoors. She started playing drums when she was 16. After studying broadcast journalism for two years in her hometown, she moved to Europe. Several months later, she came back to Canada and settled in Vancouver. At the age of 20 she underwent surgery in order to remove a large

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue (biology), tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tiss ...

from her chest and throat, with her vocal cords being removed and put back in. This procedure affected her voice.

Career

One of her friends invited her for a casting call in Vancouver, which happened to be looking for drummers. A talent agent recognized her talent and invited her to appear in various national commercials. She caught the attention of director Chris Columbus. He hired Avgeropoulos for '' I Love You, Beth Cooper'', which became her first feature film role. Her appearance in the film gave her the opportunities to star in more films, television shows and magazines. In 2010, Avgeropoulos was cast as Kim Rhodes in the film ''

Hunt to Kill ''Hunt to Kill'' is a 2010 Canadian-American direct-to-video action film starring Steve Austin, Gil Bellows, and Eric Roberts. Plot The film begins with US Border Patrol Agents Jim Rhodes and Lee Davis exploring a seemingly abandoned trailer in ...

'', which became her break-out role. Early in 2013, Avgeropoulos made her break-out in television after being cast for a recurring role in

's ''

Cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

''. However, the series failed to attract viewers and after episode 7, the show was cancelled. The remaining six episodes of the show were broadcast later in the summer. Not long after the show ended,

cast her as one of the main characters in their new sci-fi, '' The 100'', to portray the character Octavia Blake.

Personal life

In late 2018, Avgeropoulos was involved in a domestic violence incident when she and her boyfriend allegedly began arguing in a car on the

Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, that runs from the Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east–west route (designate ...

shortly after midnight on 5 August 2018. Avgeropoulos was on new medication mixed with alcohol, and was accused of striking him multiple times in the head, neck and arm, resulting in minor injuries according to the District Attorney's Office. She was then charged with

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. Avgeropoulos' boyfriend wanted the charges dropped and stated that she does not pose a threat. The case was formally dismissed with all charges dropped, as there was no intent of harm on Avgeropoulos' part, but rather "an adverse reaction to medication that triggered the outburst." She was previously in a relationship with American actor

Taylor Lautner Taylor Daniel Lautner ( ; born February 11, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for playing werewolf Jacob Black in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga'' film series (2008–2012). His accolades include a Scream Awar ...

from 2013 until 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avgeropoulos, Marie 1986 births Living people Canadian people of Greek descent Canadian film actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses People from Thunder Bay Actresses from Ontario Canadian television actresses