Megan Follows
Encyclopedia
Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows (born March 14, 1968) is a Canadian/American
actress. She is most known to international audiences for her role as Anne Shirley
in the acclaimed 1985 Canadian television miniseries Anne of Green Gables
and its two sequels.
, Ontario
, Canada
as the youngest of four children to an acting family. Her parents are noted Canadian theatre actor and director Ted Follows and his first wife, actress Dawn Greenhalgh. All of her siblings are also in the entertainment industry. Her older sister Edwina is a writer, while her brother Laurence and sister Samantha Follows (who is married to Sean O'Bryan) are actors.
. 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 and adult gesture instead. She quickly found steady work in Canada, appearing in a few TV series such as Matt and Jenny, The Mating Season, The Baxters
and The Littlest Hobo
, in which she guest-starred with her entire family in a two-part episode. She also starred in the short film "Boys and Girls" (1983), which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.
in the miniseries
Anne of Green Gables
, and subsequently appeared in the two sequels that followed. 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
.
episode "The Choice" along with Thora Birch
.
In Canada, she appeared in a popular made-for-TV movie, Hockey Night, around the time she appeared in Anne of Green Gables
. She played the lead role of Cathy, a young girl who played hockey on a previously all-male team. Other Canadian television appearances include leading roles in the period drama Under the Piano
and police drama Major Crime, which starred fellow Canadians Michael Moriarty
and Nicholas Campbell
.
In 2005, she guest-starred in the Canadian ensemble drama Robson Arms
as one of the tenants of the Robson Arms apartment complex. She also appeared in the hospital drama Open Heart as a nurse fighting a physician of malpractice and in Shania: A Life in Eight Albums
, as the mother of famous Canadian singer Shania Twain
. Most recently, she has starred as Booky's mother in the three movie adaptations of Bernice Thurman Hunter
's "Booky" series, Booky Makes Her Mark
, Booky and the Secret Santa
and Booky's Crush.
Among the earliest American television appearances were roles in The Facts of Life
(as a cousin of Jo Polniaczek in an episode that was intended as a backdoor pilot for a proposed spin-off
) in 1982, and in the short-lived series Domestic Life as Martin Mull
's TV daughter in 1984. She also appeared alongside a young Dermot Mulroney
in two TV movies, Sin of Innocence and Shattered...If Your Kid's On Drugs, in 1986. In 1987, she played the French wife of Hugh Grant
in the historically accurate Champagne Charlie series that was later repackaged into a 3 hour movie format. In 1993-94, Follows was part of the ensemble in a short-lived CBS television series Second Chances
with a then-unknown Jennifer Lopez
. Since 2000, Follows has appeared on numerous longstanding television series, such as Law & Order
, ER
, The X Files, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
, CSI: Miami
, Cold Case, and Lie to Me
. Follows also appeared in the Canadian hit series, Heartland
, for two consecutive episodes.
In 2004, she was also part of the ensemble cast of the Hallmark movie Plainsong, which included Aidan Quinn
, Rachel Griffiths
and America Ferrera
.
In 2009, she guest-starred in the ABC drama, Brothers and Sisters.
In 2011, she had a guest role on the Fox network series, House
.
and Gary Busey
in the 1985 film adaptation of Stephen King
's novella Silver Bullet
. Following the success of Anne, she appeared in Termini Station
, which reunited her with Anne of Green Gables
co-star Colleen Dewhurst
. A rarely recognized role played by Follows was Clara in the movie The Nutcracker Prince
starring Kiefer Sutherland
, in which she sings a song. In 1998, she appeared in the Canadian movie Reluctant Angel. Her most recent film credits include Christmas Child
, A Foreign Affair (2003) released on DVD as Two Brothers and a Bride, and a cameo in Laurie Lynd's Breakfast with Scot starring fellow Canadian Tom Cavanagh
.
She was also the narrator of Heather Connell's
2008 documentary Small Voices: Stories of Cambodia's Children.
's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
, in which she starred alongside her mother and her sister Samantha in 1988 in Toronto. In 1992, only a few months after giving birth to her daughter, she was offered the role of Juliet in the Stratford Festival's production of Romeo and Juliet
. She reprised the role of Juliet the following year in Los Angeles. Other notable stage credits include Ibsen's A Doll's House
(Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater
), William Shakespeare
's Othello
(Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and Ottawa's National Arts Centre), Anton Chekhov
's Uncle Vanya
(Atlantic Theatre Festival), and Noel Coward
's Hay Fever in which she played opposite with her entire family and which was directed by her father.
Recent years have seen the return of Follows on stage as a regular of the Toronto-based Soulpepper Theatre Company
. In 2005, she had the leading role of May in their production of Fool for Love
by Sam Shepard
. The following year, she took on the role of Annie in Tom Stoppard
's The Real Thing
which ran at Ottawa's National Arts Centre
as a coproduction between Soulpepper and NAC English Theatre. Following this run, the play also made its way to Toronto as part of Soulpepper's 2006 season at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts
. In 2007, she played the role of Marlene in the summer production of Caryl Churchill
's Top Girls
, again with the Soulpepper Theatre Company
. Following this, she starred in Soulpepper's 2007 production of Anton Chekhov
's Three Sisters
.
Soulpepper's 2008 season, marking the company's 10-year anniversary, signaled the continuation of Megan's prolific theatre career. Just like the past season, she appeared in two productions. The first was Marsha Norman
's 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
'night, Mother
, which she co-starred with her real-life mother, Dawn Greenhalgh. The second was Soulpepper's remount of its critically acclaimed 2007 production of Caryl Churchill
's Top Girls
, which featured the same cast and director.
Taking a short break in 2009, Megan returned to the stage in 2010 in Mirvish Productions's revival of Caryl Churchill
's classic 1979 play Cloud 9
. The play was directed by her Top Girls and Night, Mother director, Alisa Palmer, and featured an all-star Canadian cast, including Ann-Marie MacDonald
and Yanna McIntosh
. In 2011, she returns to the stage to star in the Canadian premiere of Melissa James Gibson
's This at the Vancouver Playhouse directed by Amiel Gladstone
.
and photographer she met on the set of her movie Deep Sleep. For a short time, she was credited as Megan Porter Follows. The couple divorced in 1995. They have two children: Lyla Ann (born 1991) and Russell (born 1994). Megan and her children divide their time between residences in Los Angeles and Toronto; she is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.
Canada. She travelled to both Rwanda and Tanzania as a spokeswoman and a photographer. She also participated in the 2005 benefit concert Canada for Asia held to support the relief efforts for Asia after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
. Most recently, she travelled to Cambodia in 2007 with friend and director Heather Connell
to film Small Voices: Stories of Cambodia's Children, a documentary about how the children of Cambodia
living on the street and garbage dumps face their living conditions amidst poverty and abuse and how they view their own future.
The Baxters
(TV series, 1979–81) The Littlest Hobo
(3-episode story arc, 1982) Hockey Night (1984)
Stephen King's Silver Bullet
(1985) Anne of Green Gables
(miniseries, 1985) Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
(miniseries, 1987); aired in the US as Anne of Avonlea Stacking (1987)
Inherit the Wind (1988)
Champagne Charlie
(TV series, 1989) Termini Station
(1989)
The Nutcracker Prince
(1990)
Romeo and Juliet
(1993)
Second Chances
(TV series, 1993–94)
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story
(miniseries, 2000)
Robson Arms
(TV series, recurring, 2005)
Small Voices: The Stories of Cambodia's Children
(Documentary, 2008)
I Am Number Four (2011)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. She is most known to international audiences for her role as Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Montgomery wrote in her journal that the idea for Anne's story came from relatives who, planning to adopt an orphaned boy, received a girl instead...
in the acclaimed 1985 Canadian television miniseries Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables (1985 film)
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 television movie based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Israel, Europe and Japan.The film aired on...
and its two sequels.
Biography
Follows was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as the youngest of four children to an acting family. Her parents are noted Canadian theatre actor and director Ted Follows and his first wife, actress Dawn Greenhalgh. All of her siblings are also in the entertainment industry. Her older sister Edwina is a writer, while her brother Laurence and sister Samantha Follows (who is married to Sean O'Bryan) are actors.
Early start
Her first acting job came at the age of nine, when she landed a spot in a commercial for Bell CanadaBell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
. 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 and adult gesture instead. She quickly found steady work in Canada, appearing in a few TV series such as Matt and Jenny, The Mating Season, The Baxters
The Baxters
The Baxters is an American situation comedy television series produced by Norman Lear. The series premiered in broadcast syndication in 1979 and lasted two seasons, ending in 1981. The series was the first "interactive" sitcom depicting a middle-class St...
and The Littlest Hobo
The Littlest Hobo
The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on CTV from October 11, 1979 to March 7, 1985.All three productions...
, in which she guest-starred with her entire family in a two-part episode. She also starred in the short film "Boys and Girls" (1983), which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.
Anne of Green Gables
Follows' breakthrough occurred when she was cast as Anne ShirleyAnne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Montgomery wrote in her journal that the idea for Anne's story came from relatives who, planning to adopt an orphaned boy, received a girl instead...
in the miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables (1985 film)
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 television movie based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Israel, Europe and Japan.The film aired on...
, and subsequently appeared in the two sequels that followed. The part of "Anne" was a coveted role that she won over 3,000 other young girls when director, producer and writer Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (producer)
Kevin Roderick Sullivan is a Canadian producer and director of film and television programs.Kevin Sullivan began his filmmaking career at an early age of 24. His first foray into filmmaking was with a half-hour Hans Christian Andersen Christmas special titled The Fir Tree in which he edited and...
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
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, and a Gemini nomination for the third Anne installment, Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story was a 2000 television mini-series that was highly anticipated among fans of Anne of Green Gables. It borrowed characters from the Anne of Green Gables novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery but not actual plot lines. Instead it served as a sequel to two...
.
Television
Follows has made a number of appearances on both Canadian and American television. In 1995, Follows (as Megan Porter Follows) starred in The Outer LimitsThe Outer Limits (1995 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that originally aired on Showtime,the Sci Fi Channel and in syndication between 1995 and 2002...
episode "The Choice" along with Thora Birch
Thora Birch
Thora Birch is an American actress. She was a child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as All I Want for Christmas , Patriot Games , Hocus Pocus , Now and Then , and Alaska . She came to prominence in 1999 after earning worldwide attention and praise for her performance in American Beauty...
.
In Canada, she appeared in a popular made-for-TV movie, Hockey Night, around the time she appeared in Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
. She played the lead role of Cathy, a young girl who played hockey on a previously all-male team. Other Canadian television appearances include leading roles in the period drama Under the Piano
Under the Piano
Under the Piano is a 1995 television film directed by Stefan Scaini and features Kevin Sullivan as executive producer. The film follows the story of one woman’s overwhelming faith in her talented but emotionally defenceless sister. The film starred Megan Follows and Amanda Plummer as the sisters...
and police drama Major Crime, which starred fellow Canadians Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty is an American-Canadian actor of stage and screen, and a jazz musician. He played Benjamin Stone for four seasons on the TV series Law & Order.-Early life:...
and Nicholas Campbell
Nicholas Campbell
Nicholas Campbell , sometimes credited as Nick Campbell, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker, who has won three Gemini Awards for acting. The movies Naked Lunch, Prozac Nation and the TV series Da Vinci's Inquest are some examples of his acting work.-Early life:Campbell was born in Toronto, Ontario,...
.
In 2005, she guest-starred in the Canadian ensemble drama Robson Arms
Robson Arms
Robson Arms is a Canadian television series that began airing on CTV on June 17, 2005 and ended on June 30, 2008. Robson Arms is a co-production between Vancouver-based Omni Film Productions Limited and Halifax's Creative Atlantic Communications....
as one of the tenants of the Robson Arms apartment complex. She also appeared in the hospital drama Open Heart as a nurse fighting a physician of malpractice and in Shania: A Life in Eight Albums
Shania: A Life in Eight Albums
Shania: A Life in Eight Albums is a Canadian television movie, which aired on CBC Television on 8pm on November 7, 2005. It is a biopic of Canadian country star Shania Twain, that was originally scheduled to air in October, but was delayed by the CBC labour dispute...
, as the mother of famous Canadian singer Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
. Most recently, she has starred as Booky's mother in the three movie adaptations of Bernice Thurman Hunter
Bernice Thurman Hunter
Bernice Thurman Hunter, was a Canadian children's author.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hunter spent her adult years as an Eaton's employee, and did not publish her first book, That Scatterbrain Booky , until she was a grandmother...
's "Booky" series, Booky Makes Her Mark
Booky Makes Her Mark
Booky Makes Her Mark is a made-for-TV movie that is based on the books by Bernice Thurman Hunter. This uplifting family film also features beloved Canadian actors Megan Follows , Roberta Maxwell and Lally Cadeau...
, Booky and the Secret Santa
Booky and the Secret Santa
Booky and the Secret Santa is a 2007 Canadian family television movie starring Rachel Marcus and Megan Follows. Directed by Peter Moss from a book adapted by Joe Wiesenfeld and written by Bernice Thurman Hunter...
and Booky's Crush.
Among the earliest American television appearances were roles in The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...
(as a cousin of Jo Polniaczek in an episode that was intended as a backdoor pilot for a proposed spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
) in 1982, and in the short-lived series Domestic Life as Martin Mull
Martin Mull
Martin Mull is an American actor who has starred in his own television sitcom and acted in prominent films. He is also a comedian, painter, and recording artist...
's TV daughter in 1984. She also appeared alongside a young Dermot Mulroney
Dermot Mulroney
-Early life:Mulroney was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Ellen, a housewife and amateur actress originally from Manchester, Iowa, and Michael Mulroney, a law professor at Villanova University School of Law, originally from Elkader, Iowa. He has a sister, Moira, and three brothers, Conor,...
in two TV movies, Sin of Innocence and Shattered...If Your Kid's On Drugs, in 1986. In 1987, she played the French wife of Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
in the historically accurate Champagne Charlie series that was later repackaged into a 3 hour movie format. In 1993-94, Follows was part of the ensemble in a short-lived CBS television series Second Chances
Second Chances
Second Chances may refer to:* "Second Chances" , an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation* "Second Chances," an episode of Melrose Place* "Second Chances," an episode of 21 Jump Street...
with a then-unknown Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
. Since 2000, Follows has appeared on numerous longstanding television series, such as Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, The X Files, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
, Cold Case, and Lie to Me
Lie to Me
Lie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
. Follows also appeared in the Canadian hit series, Heartland
Heartland (Canadian TV series)
Heartland is a Canadian television drama series which debuted on CBC Television on October 14, 2007. The series is loosely based on the Heartland books by Lauren Brooke....
, for two consecutive episodes.
In 2004, she was also part of the ensemble cast of the Hallmark movie Plainsong, which included Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn
-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
, Rachel Griffiths
Rachel Griffiths
Rachel Anne Griffiths is an Australian film and television actress who came to prominence in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding and her Academy Award nominated performance in the 1997 film Hilary and Jackie....
and America Ferrera
America Ferrera
America Georgina Ferrera is an American actress, best known for playing the lead role in the television comedy series Ugly Betty...
.
In 2009, she guest-starred in the ABC drama, Brothers and Sisters.
In 2011, she had a guest role on the Fox network series, House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
.
Film
Although Follows has been more prolific in television appearances, she has appeared in a number of feature films. She co-starred with Corey HaimCorey Haim
Corey Ian Haim was a Canadian actor, known for a 1980s Hollywood career as a teen idol. He starred in a number of films such as Lucas, Silver Bullet, Murphy's Romance, License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream...
and Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
in the 1985 film adaptation of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novella Silver Bullet
Silver Bullet
A silver bullet is a method to kill mythical creatures such as werewolves or a metaphor for any solution of extreme effectiveness.Silver Bullet may also refer to:* Silver Bullet , a 1985 American film based on a Stephen King novella...
. Following the success of Anne, she appeared in Termini Station
Termini Station (film)
Termini Station is a Canadian drama film, released in 1989. It was directed by Allan King, and written by Colleen Murphy.The film stars Colleen Dewhurst and Megan Follows as Molly and Micheline Dushane, a mother and daughter living in a small Northern Ontario town...
, which reunited her with Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
co-star Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'...
. A rarely recognized role played by Follows was Clara in the movie The Nutcracker Prince
The Nutcracker Prince
The Nutcracker Prince is a 1990 animated romantic fantasy film made by Lacewood Productions and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was directed by Paul Schibli and based on the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A...
starring Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
, in which she sings a song. In 1998, she appeared in the Canadian movie Reluctant Angel. Her most recent film credits include Christmas Child
Christmas Child
Christmas Child is a 2003 American Christian film directed by William Ewing starring Steven Curtis Chapman. The film is based on "The Christmas Cross", a short story by Max Lucado, and is a story about a Chicago journalist on who finds himself in Clearwater, Texas around Christmas time to discover...
, A Foreign Affair (2003) released on DVD as Two Brothers and a Bride, and a cameo in Laurie Lynd's Breakfast with Scot starring fellow Canadian Tom Cavanagh
Tom Cavanagh
Thomas "Tom" Cavanagh is a Canadian actor.-Early life:Cavanagh was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He is of Irish descent and was raised in a large Roman Catholic family. Cavanagh moved with his family to Winneba, a small city in Ghana, when he was seven years old. In his teens, the family moved to...
.
She was also the narrator of Heather Connell's
Heather Connell
Heather E. Connell is an American film director. She is best known for directing the feature documentary Small Voices: The Stories of Cambodia's Children .-Early life and education:Heather Connell was born and raised in Massachusetts...
2008 documentary Small Voices: Stories of Cambodia's Children.
Theatre
Even though the career of Follows' parents was anchored in the theatre, she did not appear in many stage production until the 2000s. Her first stage credit is Paul ZindelPaul Zindel
Paul Zindel Jr. was an American playwright, author, and educator.-Early years:Zindel was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York to Paul Zindel,Sr., a policeman, and Beatrice Frank, a nurse; his sister, Betty Hagen, was a year and a half older than he. Paul Zindel, Sr...
's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a 1964 play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work. The play's world premiere was staged in 1964 at the Alley Theatre...
, in which she starred alongside her mother and her sister Samantha in 1988 in Toronto. In 1992, only a few months after giving birth to her daughter, she was offered the role of Juliet in the Stratford Festival's production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
. She reprised the role of Juliet the following year in Los Angeles. Other notable stage credits include Ibsen's A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
(Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
), William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
(Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and Ottawa's National Arts Centre), Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
(Atlantic Theatre Festival), and Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Hay Fever in which she played opposite with her entire family and which was directed by her father.
Recent years have seen the return of Follows on stage as a regular of the Toronto-based Soulpepper Theatre Company
Soulpepper Theatre Company
Soulpepper Theatre Company is a Toronto, Ontario-based theatre company dedicated to presenting classic plays.-History:Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists who dreamed of a company that would produce lesser known theatrical classics. Soulpepper has since become an important part...
. In 2005, she had the leading role of May in their production of Fool for Love
Fool for Love (play)
Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in...
by Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
. The following year, she took on the role of Annie in Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Thing
The Real Thing (play)
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality....
which ran at Ottawa's National Arts Centre
National Arts Centre
The National Arts Centre is a centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, between Elgin Street and the Rideau Canal...
as a coproduction between Soulpepper and NAC English Theatre. Following this run, the play also made its way to Toronto as part of Soulpepper's 2006 season at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Young Centre for the Performing Arts
- History :Gooderham and Worts was originally founded by James Worts, a British immigrant, in 1832. The company Became one of the worlds largest distilleries and in 1859 they constructed the largest distillery in Canada, also one of the largest in North America. This distillery is what remains...
. In 2007, she played the role of Marlene in the summer production of Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
's Top Girls
Top Girls
Top Girls is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It is about a woman named Marlene, a career-driven woman who is employed at the 'Top Girls' employment agency. The play examines issues of gender discrimination present in the Thatcherite society that it is set in...
, again with the Soulpepper Theatre Company
Soulpepper Theatre Company
Soulpepper Theatre Company is a Toronto, Ontario-based theatre company dedicated to presenting classic plays.-History:Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists who dreamed of a company that would produce lesser known theatrical classics. Soulpepper has since become an important part...
. Following this, she starred in Soulpepper's 2007 production of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
.
Soulpepper's 2008 season, marking the company's 10-year anniversary, signaled the continuation of Megan's prolific theatre career. Just like the past season, she appeared in two productions. The first was Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother...
's 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
'night, Mother
'night, Mother
'Night, Mother is a 1983 play by Marsha Norman about a daughter, Jessie, and her mother, Thelma . The play opens with Jessie calmly telling Mama that by morning she will be dead, as she plans to commit suicide that very evening...
, which she co-starred with her real-life mother, Dawn Greenhalgh. The second was Soulpepper's remount of its critically acclaimed 2007 production of Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
's Top Girls
Top Girls
Top Girls is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It is about a woman named Marlene, a career-driven woman who is employed at the 'Top Girls' employment agency. The play examines issues of gender discrimination present in the Thatcherite society that it is set in...
, which featured the same cast and director.
Taking a short break in 2009, Megan returned to the stage in 2010 in Mirvish Productions's revival of Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
's classic 1979 play Cloud 9
Cloud Nine (play)
Cloud Nine is a two-act play written by British playwright Caryl Churchill after workshops with the Joint Stock Theatre Company in late 1978 and first performed at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, on 14 February 1979....
. The play was directed by her Top Girls and Night, Mother director, Alisa Palmer, and featured an all-star Canadian cast, including Ann-Marie MacDonald
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Ann-Marie MacDonald is a Canadian playwright, novelist, actor and broadcast journalist who lives in Toronto, Ontario. The daughter of a member of Canada's military, she was born at an air force base near Baden-Baden, West Germany....
and Yanna McIntosh
Yanna McIntosh
Yanna McIntosh, sometimes credited as Yanna MacIntosh, is a Jamaican-born Canadian television, movie and theatrical actress.-Early life:...
. In 2011, she returns to the stage to star in the Canadian premiere of Melissa James Gibson
Melissa James Gibson
-Life:The child of former BC Liberal MLA Gordon Gibson and his journalist wife Valerie, Gibson grew up in North Vancouver. She graduated from Columbia University and from the Yale School of Drama with an M.F.A. in Playwriting. She is working on commissions for the La Jolla Playhouse and The...
's This at the Vancouver Playhouse directed by Amiel Gladstone
Amiel Gladstone
Amiel Gladstone is a Canadian playwright and director. A graduate of the University of Victoria, Gladstone is a founder of Theatre Skam, an alternative theatre company in Victoria, BC and is the former Artistic Associate at Caravan Farm Theatre and the Belfry Theatre...
.
Personal life
In 1991, Follows married Christopher Porter, a gafferGaffer (filmmaking)
A gaffer in the motion picture industry and on a television crew is an electrician that can be head of the electrical department, responsible for the execution of the lighting plan for a production. Gaffer, outside of the motion picture industry, is a traditional British English word for an older...
and photographer she met on the set of her movie Deep Sleep. For a short time, she was credited as Megan Porter Follows. The couple divorced in 1995. They have two children: Lyla Ann (born 1991) and Russell (born 1994). Megan and her children divide their time between residences in Los Angeles and Toronto; she is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.
Humanitarian work
Follows has served as a spokesperson for the relief organization World VisionWorld Vision
World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
Canada. She travelled to both Rwanda and Tanzania as a spokeswoman and a photographer. She also participated in the 2005 benefit concert Canada for Asia held to support the relief efforts for Asia after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
. Most recently, she travelled to Cambodia in 2007 with friend and director Heather Connell
Heather Connell
Heather E. Connell is an American film director. She is best known for directing the feature documentary Small Voices: The Stories of Cambodia's Children .-Early life and education:Heather Connell was born and raised in Massachusetts...
to film Small Voices: Stories of Cambodia's Children, a documentary about how the children of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
living on the street and garbage dumps face their living conditions amidst poverty and abuse and how they view their own future.
Selected filmography
The Baxters
The Baxters is an American situation comedy television series produced by Norman Lear. The series premiered in broadcast syndication in 1979 and lasted two seasons, ending in 1981. The series was the first "interactive" sitcom depicting a middle-class St...
(TV series, 1979–81)
The Littlest Hobo
The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on CTV from October 11, 1979 to March 7, 1985.All three productions...
(3-episode story arc, 1982)
Silver Bullet (film)
Silver Bullet is a 1985 horror film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Megan Follows, Corey Haim, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon...
(1985)
Anne of Green Gables (1985 film)
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 television movie based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Israel, Europe and Japan.The film aired on...
(miniseries, 1985)
Anne of Avonlea (1987 film)
Anne of Avonlea is a 1987 television film. It is a sequel to the 1985 Anne of Green Gables film. The film dramatizes material from several books in the eight-novel "Anne" series by L. M. Montgomery; they are Anne of Avonlea , Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars...
(miniseries, 1987); aired in the US as Anne of Avonlea
Inherit the Wind (1988 film)
Inherit the Wind is a 1988 television film adaptation of the play of the same name. The original 1955 play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials...
Champagne Charlie (TV series)
Champagne Charlie is a 1989 French-Canadian drama television series directed by Allan Eastman and starring Hugh Grant, Megan Gallagher and Megan Follows. It is based on the novel by Jacqueline Lefèvre and depicts the life of the nineteenth century wine merchant Charles Heidsieck....
(TV series, 1989)
Termini Station
Termini Station may refer to:* Termini Station, a train station in Rome,* Termini Station, a Canadian drama film released in 1989....
(1989)
The Nutcracker Prince
The Nutcracker Prince is a 1990 animated romantic fantasy film made by Lacewood Productions and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was directed by Paul Schibli and based on the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A...
(1990)
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(1993)
Second Chances (TV series)
Second Chances is an American television series created and written by producers Bernard Lechowick and Lynn Marie Latham. The series premiered December 2, 1993, on CBS. Its cast includes Jennifer Lopez, Connie Sellecca, Megan Follows, Michelle Phillips, and Matt Salinger...
(TV series, 1993–94)
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story was a 2000 television mini-series that was highly anticipated among fans of Anne of Green Gables. It borrowed characters from the Anne of Green Gables novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery but not actual plot lines. Instead it served as a sequel to two...
(miniseries, 2000)
Robson Arms
Robson Arms is a Canadian television series that began airing on CTV on June 17, 2005 and ended on June 30, 2008. Robson Arms is a co-production between Vancouver-based Omni Film Productions Limited and Halifax's Creative Atlantic Communications....
(TV series, recurring, 2005)
Small Voices: The Stories of Cambodia's Children
Small Voices: The Stories of Cambodia's Children is a 2008 documentary film that follows several street and dumpster children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on their journey to receive an education...
(Documentary, 2008)