Julia Whelan

] the show featured them, giving them plot lines and screen time commensurate to the adult leads. Whelan, Meredith Deane, Shane West, and Evan Rachel Wood played the children of Ward and Campbell, respectively; Mischa Barton joined the show in its final season as Evan Rachel Wood's girlfriend. This lesbian storyline was dovetailed with an equally controversial plot involving Whelan's character in a doomed romance with her high school drama teacher "Mr. Dmitri", played by Eric Stoltz. Whelan, Deane, and Wood were recognized for their performances in April of 2001, [ cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Young_Artist_Awards/2001|title=IMDb: Young Artist Awards: 2001 |publisher=www.imdb.com |accessdate=2008-07-15] winning that year's Young Artist Award for Best Ensemble in a TV Series (Drama or Comedy); [ cite web |url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms22A.htm |title=22nd Annual Awards |publisher=www.youngartistawards.org |accessdate=2008-07-25] Whelan had been nominated on her own in March, 2000 [ cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Young_Artist_Awards/2000 |title=IMDb: Young Artist Awards: 2000 |publisher=www.imdb.com |accessdate=2008-07-15 ] for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Young Actress. [cite web |url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms21.htm |title=21st Annual Awards |publisher=www.youngartistawards.org |accessdate=2008-07-22]

After Once and Again wrapped up its three year run in 2002, Whelan moved on to other projects. She co-starred in the 2002 Lifetime Television movie, "The Secret Life of Zoey," as a model student struggling with a prescription drug addiction. Notable cast included co-star Mia Farrow portraying her mother, and Andrew McCarthy as her rehab counselor. The movie was promoted alongside Lifetime TV rebroadcasts of Once and Again. Whelan continued to take television roles through 2004, when she enrolled in Middlebury College.

Middlebury College

In 2004, Whelan enrolled in Middlebury College, a Vermont liberal arts college with a focus in English literature, international studies, and modern languages. Whelan excelled in English literature and composition, showing a special interest in the works of Jane Austen. She was nominated for the Ward Prize in writing for her work as a freshman, [ cite web |url=http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/ump/writing/ward_prize/Ward_Prize_for_the_Class_of_2008.htm |title=Ward Prize for the Class of 2008 |publisher=www.middlebury.edu |accessdate=2008-07-15 ] and was named a College Scholar in fall 2005, her sophomore year. [ cite web |url=http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/acadinfo/honors/scholars/scholars_fall_2005.htm |title=College Scholars, Fall 2005 |publisher=www.middlebury.edu |accessdate=2008-07-16 ] At this time she began serving the college as a peer writing tutor.

Whelan spent the 2006-7 academic year as a visiting student at Lincoln College, Oxford. She returned to Middlebury for her senior year, graduating magna cum laude on May 25, 2008. Whelan earned highest departmental honors in English, and received the Henry B. Prickett English Prize for outstanding work in the English department.

Filmography

External links

*imdb name|id=0924043
* [http://www.geocities.com/julia_whelan2003/ Prominent unofficial Julia Whelan website -- multimedia, links, biography]
* [http://www.oandafans.com/grace.shtml Description of character "Grace Manning" at www.oandafans.com]
* [http://www.geocities.com/once_and_again_au/pictures/gracemanning.html Photos of Whelan as "Grace Manning"]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/tv/onceagain/archives/apr22.html TV Guide profile of Julia Whelan, linked at www.angelfire.com/tv/onceagain]

References