Amanda Schull Bio
Amanda Schull (born August 26, 1978) is an American actress and former professional ballet dancer whose career has spanned concert dance, feature film, and network television. She first gained widespread recognition for her lead role in the 2000 dance film Center Stage and went on to build a steady résumé across genres, including recurring turns on One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, the Syfy science fiction series 12 Monkeys, and the USA Network drama Suits, where she became a series regular for the show’s final seasons. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Schull transitioned from a professional career with the San Francisco Ballet to on-screen acting in the late 2000s and has continued to work steadily in Hollywood since.
Over more than two decades in the entertainment industry, Schull has balanced independent features, prime-time guest appearances, and long-running series work, earning a reputation as a versatile performer comfortable in both genre and drama. She is also recognized for her advocacy of the arts and for representing the rigorous discipline of professional ballet within mainstream entertainment.
Early Life and Background
Amanda Schull was born on August 26, 1978, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is one of three children. She is the daughter of Susan Schull, who serves as president of Ballet Hawaii, an environment that immersed the young Schull in the world of dance from an early age. Growing up on the islands, she attended Punahou School, the same Honolulu institution later attended by other notable public figures, where she balanced a full academic course load with intensive dance training.
Schull began her formal ballet training at the Hawaii State Ballet under the instruction of John Landovsky. Her talent quickly outpaced the local offerings, and at the age of 17 she was offered a scholarship to Indiana University Bloomington to study ballet. While at Indiana University, she majored in ballet and journalism and joined the Delta Delta Delta sorority, experiences that helped shape her discipline and her communications skills in equal measure.
After her first year at Indiana University, Schull attended the San Francisco Ballet School Summer Intensive on scholarship and continued her studies there for an additional year. When her scholarship period ended in 1999, she stayed on with the company as an apprentice, marking the start of her professional ballet life.
Path to Acting
While still an apprentice with the San Francisco Ballet, Amanda Schull auditioned for and won the starring role of Jody Sawyer in the Columbia Pictures film Center Stage, a fictional story centered on young dancers auditioning for a spot in a New York ballet company. The film was released in 2000 and gave Schull her first national platform, introducing her face and her dancing to audiences far beyond the ballet world.
Following the production, Schull joined the San Francisco Ballet as a full-time member of its corps de ballet, where she performed for several seasons. In April 2006, she retired from the company, closing a chapter that had begun during her teenage years in Hawaii. The transition from stage to screen would begin in earnest in 2008, when she traveled to Australia to film the movie adaptation of Li Cunxin’s memoir Mao’s Last Dancer.
In Mao’s Last Dancer, released in North America in 2010, Schull played Elizabeth Mackey, known as Liz, the girlfriend and later first wife of the memoir’s author, Li Cunxin. The role marked her first major dramatic part outside of Center Stage and helped establish her range as a screen actress.
Amanda Schull Career
Early Career (2000–2008)
Amanda Schull’s earliest professional years were divided between the San Francisco Ballet and her first screen work. Her film debut in Center Stage in 2000 showcased her classical technique and introduced her to industry decision-makers, even as she continued to perform with the ballet company. For several years, dance remained her primary focus.
After retiring from San Francisco Ballet in April 2006, Schull spent time reassessing her next steps. In May 2008, she traveled to Australia to film Mao’s Last Dancer, a project that effectively relaunched her career in front of the camera and set the stage for a string of television guest roles in 2009 and beyond.
Breakthrough (2009–2014)
The years between 2009 and 2014 marked Schull’s busiest and most visible period as a working television actress. In 2009 she took a guest star role on the Fox series Lie to Me, appeared in the Lifetime movie Sorority Wars alongside Lucy Hale and Courtney Thorne-Smith, and joined The CW’s One Tree Hill in the recurring role of Sara and her look-alike, Katie Ryan. She also appeared in episodes of Ghost Whisperer and, in 2010, in Bones and the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars, where she played Meredith, a former lover of Aria’s father.
Schull continued to land notable guest spots, including Hawaii Five-0, a 2012 episode of Psych, and a turn on Grimm as Lucinda, a character styled after Cinderella with a darker twist. In 2013, she began her longest-running recurring arc to date, playing Katrina Bennett on USA Network’s Suits, and she also appeared in Nikita as Agent Naomi during this period.
In March 2018, Schull was promoted to series regular on Suits for the show’s eighth and ninth seasons, the final years of the long-running legal drama. The promotion cemented her status as a leading television performer and introduced her character to a broader audience during the show’s closing storylines.
Notable Works and Milestones
Beyond Suits, Schull’s most defining television role came in 2015 when she was cast as Dr. Cassandra Railly in the Syfy science fiction series 12 Monkeys, based on the 1995 film of the same name. The series premiered on January 16, 2015, and ran for four seasons, with Schull appearing as a series regular throughout its run. In September 2024, she was cast in a recurring role on the superhero series Spider-Noir, signaling her continued presence in genre television.
Amanda Schull Award Nominations
Amanda Schull’s career has been recognized by audiences and peers within the dance and entertainment communities through a series of nominations tied to her performances in Center Stage, her work with the San Francisco Ballet, and her later television projects. Her sustained presence across multiple long-running series reflects steady industry regard, even as her body of work continues to expand.
Amanda Schull Awards Won
Schull’s transition from a celebrated stage dancer to a working actress has been marked by industry recognition for her performances in both dance and dramatic roles. While specific award totals tied to every project are not uniformly documented, her career arc from apprentice at the San Francisco Ballet to series regular on two major television dramas stands as one of her defining professional achievements.
Amanda Schull Family
Amanda Schull was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, as one of three children. Her mother, Susan Schull, has served as president of Ballet Hawaii, a position that has helped shape the local dance community and that directly influenced her daughter’s classical training from an early age.
Personal Life
Amanda Schull met her husband, George Wilson, while filming Mao’s Last Dancer in Australia. The couple married and, in February 2020, welcomed their first child, a son. Schull has continued to balance her family life with her ongoing work in film and television, including her recent role on Spider-Noir.