Shailene Garnett


Shailene Garnett is a film and television actress born in Montreal, Canada. She is known for her roles as Iris Beals in the CBC Television series Diggstown, as Maureen in the Freeform series Shadowhunters, and as Ms. Symonds the Netflix series Between.

Early life and career

Shailene Emily Garnett was born in Montreal, Canada, to American father, Gary and Canadian mother, Veronika. She is of Hungarian, Jamaican and Lebanese descent. She has two brothers.
Garnett attended six elementary schools and two high schools throughout Ontario and Quebec. She studied French and International Studies at York University's Glendon College in Toronto, Canada. She left university after two years and became a teacher's assistant for English Studies in the Eastern townships of Quebec. While working in Quebec, Garnett was scouted by a talent agent and decided to pursue acting as a career.
Garnett landed her first supporting feature film role as Krissy B. in Matt Johnson's critically acclaimed film The Dirties. That year, Garnett also co-starred in Best Man Holiday starring Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Terrence Howard, and Regina Hall.
In 2017, Garnett co-wrote, executive produced directed and starred in 77 Days, a short film about addiction and reconciliation. The film premiered in at the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto and screened at other festivals such as the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. 77 Days is available to stream on KweliTV which is on Xfinity, a subsidiary of the Comcast Corporation.
Since 2018, Garnett has played the recurring roles of Nomi Johnston and Iris Beals in the CBC Television series Murdoch Mysteries and Diggstown.