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Monique Coleman
Born	November 13, 1980 (age 26) Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA
Notable roles	Taylor McKessie - High School Musical Mary-Margeret - The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Herself - Dancing with the Stars

Monique Adrienne Coleman (born November 13, 1980) is an American actress best known for being one of the co-stars of the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical, in which she plays Gabriella Montez's (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) best friend Taylor McKessie. She also competed in the third edition of ABC's Dancing With The Stars (US TV series) , finishing in fourth place.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Education 3 Career 3.1 Dancing with the Stars 3.1.1 Weekly scores 4 Filmography and television 5 Awards 6 References 7 Additional Reading 7.1 Interviews 7.2 News 7.3 Others 8 External links

Coleman was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina and started her acting career in theatre and television at a very young age in Columbia, South Carolina. According to the Monique Coleman Official Site ^[1], her training began at the Workshop Theatre School of Dramatic Arts where she performed in over 15 plays. An acting class taught by a guest teacher actually turned out to be an audition, and resulted in her booking her first commercial. Monique then began auditioning for anything she could in the Southeast region, landing several local and regional commercials as well as a few supporting roles in films. In addition to acting, Coleman was very involved in her community and school where she did everything from performing in plays to competing in forensic tournaments, volunteering with abused children, running track, and even cheerleading.

Coleman currently lives in Los Angeles.

Coleman went to the Heathwood Hall Episcopal School. Then, she attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, earning her BFA in Acting in 2002.

Coleman made her first lead in the independent feature entitled Mother of the River ^[2] which was shot in the historic Charleston, South Carolina. The film won numerous awards at film festivals in Chicago. Two years later, Monique appeared as Young Donna in The Family Channel Movie The Ditchdigger's Daughters ^[3] for which she was nominated for a Young Artists Award of Hollywood. During her sophomore year of high school, Monique 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, Monique starred in productions of Noises Off, Polaroid Stories, The Real Thing and The Colored Museum. ^[4] In 2005, Coleman had the honor of working opposite one of her heroes - the legendary James Earl Jones when she played Leesha in the 2005 Hallmark TV Movie "The Reading Room". ^[5] She received a 2006 Camie Award for the role and represented the film at the NAACP Image Awards.^[6]

In 2006, Coleman co-starred in High School Musical as Taylor McKessie, best friend of the lead star Gabriella played by Vanessa Anne Hudgens. Then, she was a recurring guest star in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody episodes, "Forever Plaid", "Not So Suite 16", and "Neither a Borrower Nor a Speller Bee" along with Vanessa Anne Hudgens. Prior to that she guest-starred in The Suite Life season one episode A Prom Story. Coleman has had seven other guest appearances on the television shows Boston Public, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Strong Medicine, 10-8, Married to the Kellys, and Veronica Mars. Monique is also in the first ever Disney Channel Games, on the Blue Team, along with Brenda Song, Corbin Bleu, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Cole Sprouse, and Jason Earles.

Since the debut of Disney Channel's Original Movie High School Musical in January 2006, Coleman has travelled to Sydney, Australia and London, England for promotions as well as appearing on shows such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN Showbiz Tonight and TRL. She has been voted as one of Teen People's 25 hottest stars under 25, and has been featured in Bop, Popstar, Tigerbeat, Cosmo Girl, Word Up, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, Newsweek, and in other international publications. She has signed on as Taylor McKessie in the most anticipated sequel to High School Musical which will go into production in 2007.

During the Teen Choice Awards 2006, Coleman and the cast of High School Musical accepted the award for Choice TV Show in the category of Comedy/Musical for which Coleman thanked her fans and encouraged them to vote for her on ABC's 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. During the final dance competition, the back end of the dress, which was low cut to begin with, slipped revealing the upper half of her posterior. In true showmanship, the pair still finished the dance. It was considered a wardrobe malfunction.^{[citation needed]}

She was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars on November 1, 2006, finishing fourth in the competition.^[7] Ms. 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.^[8]

Week No.	Dance	Score (out of 30)	Music	Singer
1	Foxtrot	19	"Baby Love"	Diana Ross
2	Mambo	26	"Bop to the Top"	Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel
3	Jive	27	"The Heat is on"	Glenn Frey
4	Waltz	24	"If I Were a Painting"	Kenny Rogers
5	Rhumba	27	"So Nice"	Bebel Gilberto
6	Samba	23	"ABC (song)"	Jackson 5 [8]
7	Quickstep	27	"Luck be a Lady"	Frank Sinatra
7	Paso Doble	27	"The Reflex"	Duran Duran
8	Tango	24	"Somebody's Watching Me"	Royal Gigolos
8	Cha-cha-cha	29	"Ghostbusters"	Ray Parker Jr.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	High School Musical 2	Taylor McKessie	made-for-television
2006	Dancing With the Stars	Herself	television
2006	High School Musical	Taylor McKessie	made-for-television
2006	Disney Channel Games	Herself	game show/television
2005-	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Mary-Margeret	television
2005	The Reading Room	Leesha	television
2003–2005	Boston Public	Molly	3 episodes television
2005	Veronica Mars	Gabriel Pollard	1 episode television
2004	Malcolm in the Middle	Andrea	1 episode television
2004	Married to the Kellys	waitress	1 episode television
2004	10-8: Officers on Duty	Maya Barnes	1 episode television
2004	Gilmore Girls	Andy	1 episode television
2003	Strong Medicine	Tanya	1 episode television
1997	The Ditchdigger's Daughters	Young Donna	television
1995	Mother of the River	Dofimae	television

• 19th Annual Youth Awards (1996-1997)^[9]

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 ^[10]
• Teen Choice Awards 2006 Award for Choice TV Show: Comedy/Musical - High School Musical

• Interview with Monique Coleman and Louis Van Amstel
• Monique Coleman talks about rehearsals
• Crimson Celluloid: Interview with Monique Coleman
• TheStarscoop.com: Interview with Monique Coleman October, 2006
• "Taylor, Ryan and Sharpay, Tell All!"
• Scholastic News Special Report "Catching up with the Cast of High School Musical"

• News on Monique Coleman from Yahoo Directory
• News on Monique Coleman from Google Directory
• Is Monique Coleman Dancing With The Stars' Breakout Star?
• AP Breaking News Monique Coleman Off the Dancing Floor

• ABC Dancing with the Stars Dancer's Diaries
• Monique Coleman at Yahoo Directory
• About Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
• ABC Dancing with the Stars Bios
• Blog Archive for Monique Coleman

• Monique Coleman at the Internet Movie Database
• Monique Coleman at TV.com
• Monique Coleman's Official Site