Trudy "Tru" Collins is an American actress and

indie-pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and ...

singer. She is known for her role of Julie on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's original high school comedy, ''

Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...

''.

Early life and education

Tru was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, to five-time

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

winning television journalist Reid Collins and choreographer Lindy Fisher. She attended Manhattan's

Professional Performing Arts School The Professional Performing Arts School, colloquially known as PPAS, is a public middle and high school specializing in the performing arts, located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. PPAS maintains professional pa ...

at 15 while studying classical piano and training with Elaine Kudo of

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

. Collins began college with a songwriting scholarship from Universal and studied at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

in New York City.

Career

In 2014, she guest starred on Showtime's period drama ''

Masters of Sex ''Masters of Sex'' is an American period drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2013, on Showtime. It was developed by Michelle Ashford and loosely based on Thomas Maier's biography '' Masters of Sex''. Set in the 1950s thro ...

'' opposite

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...

, and had a supporting role in ''Spring Awakening'', an indie film set in the late 1800s. Collins has recurred as mean girl Julie on MTV's ''

'' seasons 2–5. In 2017, she featured along with

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft (born April 3, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and author. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films, including '' Lemonade Mouth'' (2011), '' Jem and the Holograms'' (2015), '' Insidi ...

in a TV series called ''

Insecure Insecure may refer to: * Lack of security, in an objective sense: ** Risk ** Data security ** Computer security * Food insecurity * Insecurity (emotion), lack of confidence or self esteem Media * ''Insecure'' (TV series), a television series on ...

''. In 2018, she acted in another TV series, '' Vida''. Tru Collins and Jodi Katz

As a singer, she performed with Grammy-winning soul singer Latrice Varrett, opening for

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

at the

Nokia Theatre Times Square Palladium Times Square (formerly PlayStation Theater, Best Buy Theater and Nokia Theatre Times Square) is an indoor live events venue in New York City, located in One Astor Plaza, at the corner of Broadway and 44th Street. It was designed by arch ...

in 2009. In 2010, she joined

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

' multi-platinum progressive rock band

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill (producer), Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-pr ...

as a vocalist, touring arenas across North America and promoting the band performing acoustic guitar/vocal solos live on numerous rock radio stations. That year, TSO reached #12 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

for American Arena Tours, beating

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. The tour grossed $47,395,108 and sold out 51 arenas. Collins has co-written songs with

Rostrum Records Rostrum Records is an American independent record label initially located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, now located in Los Angeles, California. Benjy Grinberg is the founder and president of the label, which currently has sixteen artists on its ro ...

artist Vali and

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, established ...

, and her work has been featured on various recordings and television soundtracks. In 2012, Collins performed with DJ Ravi Drums, Kitara player Craig Dobbin, and rapper Wes Period at the

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (SBA), formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and t ...

Arena in Toronto. In 2015, Collins joined

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal ( ; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-Dan (rank), dan Black belt (martial arts), black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instru ...

's blues band, Thunderbox, for a European tour and performed with ten-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

at the Cognac Blues Passion Festival in

Cognac, France Cognac (; Saintongese dialect, Saintongese: ''Cougnat''; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Charente departments of France, department, southwestern France. Administratively, the commune of Cognac is a subprefectures in France, subprefec ...

. Her debut solo EP, ''Story of A Gypsy Child'', from producer Jonny on the Rocks of Brooklyn bands Shinobi Ninja and Rocky Business, is set for 2015 release. Her music video for the first single, "Party Dress", was released via YouTube in February 2015.

References

External links

Trans Siberian Orchestra Official WebsiteYoutube.com/TruLoveMusicMyspace.com/TruLoveMusicimdb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Tru Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Richmond, Virginia Actresses from Richmond, Virginia American performance artists American soap opera actresses American film actresses American female dancers American dancers Trans-Siberian Orchestra members 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Year of birth missing (living people)