Niamh Wilson (; born March 9, 1997) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

film and television actress from

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, known for her role as Lydia in Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies as well as Jacqueline "Jack" Jones on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' during seasons 13 and 14. As a child actor, she played notable characters like Corbett in ''

Saw III ''Saw III'' is a 2006 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Leigh Whannell and a story by Whannell and James Wan. A sequel to ''Saw II'' (2005) and the third installment in the ''Saw'' film series, it stars Tobin Bel ...

'', reprised in ''

Saw V ''Saw V'' is a 2008 horror film directed by David Hackl, in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. A sequel to '' Saw IV'' (2007) and the fifth installment in the ''Saw'' film series, it stars Tobin Bel ...

''; Little Claire and Rose in the Canadian horror film ''

The Marsh The Marsh Theater is an American theater company that specializes in developing new performance, founded in 1989. It has two venue locations, at 1062 Valencia Street in the Mission District of San Francisco, California; and 2120 Allston Way in Be ...

'' (2006); and the title role in the Family Channel series '' Debra!'' Wilson's career has spanned over two decades; working with multiple

academy award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winning filmmakers such as

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Jean-Pierre Jeunet (; born 3 September 1953) is a French film director and screenwriter. His films combine fantasy, realism, and science fiction to create idealized realities or to give relevance to mundane situations. Jeunet debuted as a direc ...

, and

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and activist. His accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Best Actor Award at the ...

, as well as the likes of Helena Bonham-Carter, and Kyle Machlachlan.

Career

Wilson began her career with a role in the Warner Brother's pilot ''Chasing Alice'' at the age of five. Although the TV Movie/pilot did not result in a series, she did meet

Ralph Hemecker Ralph W. Hemecker is an American director, writer, and producer. He directed episodes of the drama series ''Once Upon a Time'' and ''The Flash''. Career In 2000, Hemecker founded Mythic Films, a full service feature film, TV and commercial produc ...

, who was to direct her in '' Haunting Sarah'' two years later. Her portrayal of Sarah Lewis garnered her a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

in 2006. While in Los Angeles for the awards she and her mother created a

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

radio documentary A radio documentary is a spoken word radio format devoted to non-fiction narrative. It is broadcast on radio as well as distributed through media such as tape, CD, and podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital ...

for the ''Outfront'' program called "Child Star Goes to Hollywood" about their road trip to Hollywood. Wilson was cast in ''

Ice Planet An ice planet or icy planet is a type of planet with an icy surface of volatiles such as water, ammonia, and methane. Ice planets consist of a global cryosphere. Under a geophysical definition of planet, the small icy worlds of the Solar System ...

'' as Commander Trager's (

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known professionally as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has ...

) daughter. She has appeared in numerous films as well as episodic television, generally in dramatic adult-oriented vehicles; however, a comedic role eluded her until she was cast in the title role of Debra Delong in the Family Channel series ''Debra!'' produced by

Cookie Jar Entertainment The Cookie Jar Group, commonly known as simply Cookie Jar and formerly known as CINAR, was a Canadian animation studio, media production and distribution company that existed from 1976 until it was folded into DHX Media, now WildBrain, on Dec ...

. The role was cast in 2010 when Wilson was only 12 years old. The pilot was shot in spring 2010; Family Channel picked up the series in summer 2010. and the first season was filmed in January - February 2011. The first episode premiered on Family Channel Saturday, June 4, 2011. Wilson won the

for Leading Actress in a TV Series for '' Debra!'' In May 2012, the series also won for Best Young Ensemble in a TV Series. This was the first time a TV series that was not aired in the United States had won these awards. They were also in Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies as a character named Lydia.

Personal life

Like her character on ''Degrassi'', Jack Jones, Wilson is a dancer, practicing mainly in ballet, modern contemporary, and pointe. Wilson graduated from high school in June 2015 and attended

George Brown College The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public, fully accredited college (Canada), college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, George ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 ...

. She was accepted into their dance program for Technical and Performance Training in Ballet. As of 2018, Wilson was pursuing an anthropology major at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. In 2023, she published a first-person piece in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' about her journey as a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

person.Niamh Wilson
"As an actor, I’ve played queer characters on TV longer than I’ve been out — and TV was no help in finding myself"
''

'', May 28, 2023. Niamh Wilson uses all pronouns.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music Videos

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Niamh 1997 births Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people Actresses from Oakville, Ontario 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian queer actresses