Lynn Collins
Biography
Viola Lynn Collins was born in Houston, Texas, to Patricia Lynn (Campbell) and Phillip Dean Collins. She attended the Juilliard School for Drama and had a great deal of Shakespearean training before being cast as "Portia" in "The Merchant of Venice".
She also played "Ophelia" in a production of "Hamlet" in New York, and was "Juliet" in Peter Hall's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.
When she was four years old her family moved to Singapore and lived there for six years before moving back to Houston. She has English, Scottish, Irish and Cherokee ancestry.
She submitted an audition tape in hopes of playing Jessica in The Merchant of Venice (2004): director Michael Radford instead cast Collins as the female lead Portia after the originally cast Cate Blanchett dropped out (due to pregnancy).
Started dating her second husband, Matthew Boyle, in 2014 and they were married soon afterwards. Lynn and her second husband, Matthew Boyle, welcomed their son, Asher Hendrix Boyle, in January 2015.
Graduated from Klein High School outside of Houston, TX. Other KHS alumni include singer Lyle Lovett, actress Sherry Stringfield, actors Lee Pace and Matt Bomer, writer Tom Vaughan, and Olympic Gold Medalist Laura Wilkinson. Separated from her first husband, Steven Strait, in 2013 and they were divorced soon afterwards.