Vanessa Lengies was born on July 21, 1985 in Montreal, Canada. She began her professional acting career at the age of 9. Some of her television credits included are she has lent her voice for several animated characters. Lengies? television credits include regular roles on the children?s cable series ?Are You Afraid of the Dark?? and ?Sponk,? as well as a co-host role on the science program ?Popular Mechanics for Kids.? She also starred in the cable film ?Ratz,? with Ron Silver and Kathy Baker. Along with her television appearances, Lengies has starred in a variety of animated series, including ?For Better or for Worse,? ?Little Lulu,? ?Tales of the Great Bunny,? ?Arthur? and ?Calillou.? Vanessa stars as Roxanne Bojarksi ? whose bold eagerness to push the envelope and never-say-die attitude earn the star-struck teen and her best friend (Brittany Snow) spots dancing on the popular ?American Bandstand? in NBC?s new drama ?American Dreams.? Away from ?American Dreams,? Lengies divides her time between snowboarding, a love for arts/crafts and redecorating, event planning, dancing and singing. When not shooting her series, she lives in Montreal with her mother and father, where she has recently completed high school.