Monique Coleman

Adrienne Monique Coleman (Born November 13, 1980)[1] is an American actress known for her role in the High School Musical movies, in which she plays Taylor McKessie.

Monique Coleman
Coleman in February 2011
Born
Adrienne Monique Coleman

(1980-11-13) November 13, 1980
Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma materDePaul University (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Walter Jordan
​
​
(m. 2012; div. 2022)​

Early life and education

Adrienne Monique Coleman was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina.[2] She started her acting career in theater and television at a very young age in Columbia, South Carolina. She currently lives in Los Angeles. Her training began at the Workshop Theater School of Dramatic Arts where she performed in over 15 plays.

Coleman went to Heathwood Hall Episcopal School. Afterward attending The Theater School at DePaul University in Chicago, earning her BFA in Acting in 2002.

Career

Coleman made her first lead in the independent feature entitled Mother of the River,[3] which was shot in historic Charleston, South Carolina. The film won numerous awards at film festivals in Chicago. Two years later, Coleman appeared as Young Donna in The Family Channel Movie The Ditch digger's Daughters[4] for which she was nominated for a Young Artists Award of Hollywood. During her sophomore year of high school, Coleman wrote, directed, produced, and starred in her own one-person play entitled "Voices from Within" with standing room only – audience numbering in the hundreds. On stage in Chicago, Coleman starred in productions of Noises Off, Polaroid Stories, The Real Thing, and The Colored Museum.[5]

In 2005, Coleman got the chance to work opposite one of her heroes – the legendary James Earl Jones when she played Leesha in the 2005 Hallmark TV Movie The Reading Room.[6] She received a 2006 Camie Award for the role and represented the film at the NAACP Image Awards.[7]

Coleman during the High School Musical: The Concert in January 2007

In 2006, Coleman rose to prominence in High School Musical, where she portrayed Taylor McKessie, the best friend of the new girl, Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens). Before then, she was a recurring guest star in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody episodes, "Forever Plaid", "Not So Suite 16", "Neither a Borrower Nor a Speller Bee" and "A Prom Story" along with Hudgens. Coleman has had seven other guest appearances on television, including Boston Public, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Strong Medicine, 10-8: Officers on Duty, Married to the Kellys, and Veronica Mars. Coleman was also in the first ever Disney Channel Games in 2006, on the Blue Team (with Brenda Song, Corbin Bleu, Cole Sprouse, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jason Earles and Brandon Baker). She won with both teams.

She showcased her ballroom skills in "Dance With Me", while she partnered with National Youth Latin Champion Jared Murillo. Drew Seeley was the soloist. She is the host of 3 Minute Game Show: High School Musical Edition on Disney Channel. She recorded a song called "Christmas Vacation" for the holiday album entitled A Disney Channel Holiday. In 2007, she appeared in High School Musical 2. In 2008, she again repeated her role as Taylor McKessie in High School Musical 3.

Dancing with the Stars

Coleman competed in the Fall 2006 third edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars reality dance competition. She was paired with professional partner Louis van Amstel throughout the competition. Van Amstel and the judges praised her for "taking risks" during the competition. The pair appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show before they were eliminated and performed the same dance they performed in week 2's episode. She was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars on November 1, 2006, finishing fourth in the competition. She was the last female in the contest that year.[8] Coleman was very gracious in defeat and appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show on the same night as the Results Show to thank her fans for their votes and support.[9]

Week Dance / Song Judges' Score Status
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Foxtrot / "Baby Love" – The Supremes 6 6 7 Safe
2 Mambo / "Bop to the Top" – Ashley Tisdale feat. Lucas Grabeel 9 8 9 Safe
3 Jive / "The Heat Is On" – Glenn Frey 9 9 9 Safe
4 Waltz / "If I Were a Painting" – Kenny Rogers 8 8 8 Bottom two
5 Rumba / "So Nice" – Bebel Gilberto 9 9 9 1st Place
6 Samba / "ABC" – The Jackson 5 9 7 7 No Elimination
Due to Sara Evans's withdrawal
7 Quickstep / "Luck Be a Lady" – Frank Sinatra 9 9 9 Bottom two
Paso Doble / "The Reflex" – Duran Duran 9 9 9
8 Tango / "Somebody's Watching Me" – Rockwell 8 8 8 Eliminated
Cha Cha Cha / "Ghostbusters" – Ray Parker Jr. 9 10 10

UN Youth Champion

At a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York, she was presented with a letter of recognition of her new role by Assistant Secretary-General Jomo Kwame Sundaram of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. In presenting the letter, Mr. Sundaram said Coleman will work "to raise awareness about the challenges young people face and will highlight the positive contribution they make to their communities." Coleman said receiving the designation of Youth Champion was "beyond an honor" and she would use her new position to promote global efforts to achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Philanthropy

Coleman worked with dosomething.org[10] to produce a "Do Something U" video tutorial. The video targets young activists who need a bit of guidance and inspiration to help them carry out their ideas for their communities to fruition. Coleman's video tutorial focused on teaching youth the best way to utilize social media to spread word of ideas and actions.[11]

Personal life

Coleman was married to Walter Jordan in February 2012.[12][13] They divorced in February 2022.[14]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Mother of the River Dofimae Short
1997 The Ditchdigger's Daughters Young Donna TV movie
2005 The Reading Room Leesha TV movie
2006 High School Musical Taylor McKessie TV movie
On Line Jessie Short
2007 High School Musical 2 Taylor McKessie TV movie
2008 High School Musical 3: Senior Year Taylor McKessie
Order - Video
2014 Free the Nipple Roz
2015 Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List Girl-Robin
2016 Distortion Woman Short
2017 We Are Family Elise
The Outdoorsman Jen
2018 Broken Star Annie
2019 I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story Ms. Lewis TV movie
Real.Live.Girl Sam Short
2020 Steppin' Back To Love April TV movie
Witness Infection Rose
GraceLand - Short
The Little Death Camille Short
2021 Phobias Natalie
A Christmas Dance Reunion Lucy TV movie
Pawns Veronica Barrett Short
2022 Greed: A Seven Deadly Sins Story Zuri Maxwell TV movie
Give Me an A Megan

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Strong Medicine Tanya Episode: "Misdiagnosis Murder"
2003-04 Boston Public Molly Recurring cast: season 4
2004 Gilmore Girls Andy Episode: "The Nanny and the Professor"
10-8: Officers on Duty Maya Barnes Episode: "Love Don't Love Nobody"
Married to the Kellys Waitress Episode: "Chris And Mary Fight"
Malcolm in the Middle Andrea Episode: "Malcolm Visits College"
Method & Red - Episode: "Kill Bill Volume 3"
2005 Veronica Mars Gabrielle Pollard Episode: "Lord of the Bling"
2005-06 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Mary Margaret Guest: season 1, recurring cast: season 2
2006 Dancing with the Stars Herself Contestant: Season 3
2008 Million Dollar Password Herself Episode: "Episode #1.5"
2009 Bones Becca Hedgepeth Episode: "The Salt in the Wounds"
2010 The Cleveland Show Fontaisha (voice) Episode: "Our Gang"
2014 Downtown Girls Morgan Episode: "The Inception"
2015 Stitchers Solaris Episode: "Future Tense"
The Fourth Door Lain Main cast
2016 Here We Go Again Kayla Recurring cast
2017 Guidance Katina Howard Recurring cast: season 3
2020 Celebrity Scene Spotlight The Passionate Storyteller Episode: "The Bench Play"
2021 Family Reunion Ebony Episode: “Remember When Jade Thought She Was Grown?”
2023 High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Taylor McKessie Episode: "Episode #4.1"

Music

Awards
  • 19th Annual Young Artist Awards (1996–1997)[17]
Best Performance in a TV MOVIE or FEATURE FILM: Young Ensemble – "Ditchdigger's Daughter"
Best Family TV MOVIE/ PILOT/MINI-SERIES (CABLE) – The Ditchdigger's Daughters, Family Channel
  • Character and Morality in Entertainment Awards (CAMIE) 2006 – The Reading Room[18]
  • Teen Choice Awards 2006 Award for Choice TV Show: Comedy/Musical – High School Musical
  • American Music Award 2007 for High School Musical 2
  • Teen Choice Awards 2009 Award for Choice Movie: Music/Dance – High School Musial
  • Daytime Emmy Awards 2019 : Outstanding Host ( Nominated)

References
  1. Monique Coleman. TVguide.com. Accessed November 11, 2011.
  2. Pat Berman (January 4, 2007). Music Preview: Monique Coleman brings Disney's 'High School' cheer to the fans. Post-Gazette. Accessed 1478-06-06.
  3. Monique Coleman Biography at IMDb
  4. The Ditchdigger's Daughter at IMDB
  5. "High School Musical, Monique Coleman". Londonnet. Londonnet.co.uk. December 13, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  6. The Reading Room at IMDB.com
  7. Awards
  8. "Monique's luck runs out on 'Dancing' – Dancing With the Stars – MSNBC.com". Today.com. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  9. TV Guide, TV Listings, Online Videos, Entertainment News and Celebrity News TVGuide.com
  10. "dosomething.org". dosomething.org. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  11. "change the world with social media". Seventeen.com. December 2010.
  12. "Monique Coleman on Instagram: "#REBIRTH 🦋🦋🦋 6 months ago today, I made the most difficult decision of my adult life. I decided to step away from a 12 relationship (10 year marriage) in order to live more fully expressed and authentically. I thought I knew myself at 29 — and now at 41, I feel like I'm only getting glimpses of who I really am and what I'm truly capable of. I used to believe that for a relationship to be successful it had to last forever. That simply isn't true. I'm infinitely proud of the last 12 years & have nothing but the utmost respect and love for my former partner. However, the past few years have shown us all that life is too short and fragile to live anywhere but in our truth. And as painful as it has been, this is mine. I had to break my heart to free my soul and honestly I've never been more proud. This isn't a new chapter because my life isn't a book. This is a Rebirth. A Reclamation. A Restoration. And Resurrection. This is my Renaissance. #MightyMo 🚀"".
  13. "DisneyDreaming.com". Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  14. "Monique Coleman on Instagram: "#REBIRTH 🦋🦋🦋 6 months ago today, I made the most difficult decision of my adult life. I decided to step away from a 12 relationship (10 year marriage) in order to live more fully expressed and authentically. I thought I knew myself at 29 — and now at 41, I feel like I'm only getting glimpses of who I really am and what I'm truly capable of. I used to believe that for a relationship to be successful it had to last forever. That simply isn't true. I'm infinitely proud of the last 12 years & have nothing but the utmost respect and love for my former partner. However, the past few years have shown us all that life is too short and fragile to live anywhere but in our truth. And as painful as it has been, this is mine. I had to break my heart to free my soul and honestly I've never been more proud. This isn't a new chapter because my life isn't a book. This is a Rebirth. A Reclamation. A Restoration. And Resurrection. This is my Renaissance. #MightyMo 🚀"".
  15. "Christmas Vacation, Monique Coleman". Shazam. 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  16. "Pop Hits 2010 (Pop It Rock It 2: It's On), Various Artists". Deezer. 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  17. "19th Annual Awards". Youngartistawards.org. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  18. The Reading Room (2005) (TV)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monique Coleman.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.