Mia Kirshner: Not Another Timeless Tuesday Hottie

Remember the film Not Another Teen Movie? Of course, you do. Now, tell me what makes it memorable, apart from the opening scene where the protagonist got caught masturbating. Oh, and what about the early days of Captain America Chris Evans?

Yes, Chris Evans’s sister in that movie. A spoof of Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s character in Cruel Intentions. Now, that hot babe is none other than this super hot Canadian, Mia Kirshner.

Who is Mia Kirshner

Mia is a Canadian actress, writer, and social activist. She has appeared on television as Mandy in 24 (2001-2005), Jenny Schecter in The L Word (2004-2009), Amanda Grayson in Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2019) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023), and Isobel Flemming in The Vampire Diaries (2010-11). Her filmography includes Love and Human Remains, Exotica, The Crow: City of Angels, Mad City, Not Another Teen Movie, and The Black Dahlia.

Her Early Life

Mia Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of teacher Etti (Henrietta) and journalist Sheldon Kirshner, who wrote for The Canadian Jewish News. She is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors; her father was born in the displaced people camp in Bad Reichenhall in Germany in 1946 and met Kirshner’s mother, a Bulgarian Jewish refugee (of Sephardi Jewish descent), after the family emigrated to Israel.

Mia’s paternal grandparents were Polish Jews of Ashkenazi origin. She was raised in the middle class and attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute before moving on to Jarvis Collegiate Institute to complete her education. Mia studied Russian literature and the twentieth-century film industry at McGill University in Montreal. Her younger sister, writer Lauren Kirshner, was part of the I Live Here initiative.

Career Journey

Mia had an interest in acting when she was a student at the Jarvis Institute, and her parents assisted her in finding a talent agency when she was 12 years old. She subsequently went on to appear in various Canadian television programs.

Mia began acting professionally at the age of 14, and her film debut came in Denys Arcand’s Love and Human Remains (1993). Mia’s performance in the film earned her a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance also caught Atom Egoyan’s eye, and he cast her as the female lead in the 1994 film Exotica. Mia’s portrayal of a seductive stripper in the film earned her critical acclaim, and by 1996, she had established herself with an equally inspiring performance in The Crow: City of Angels (1996).

Mia was cast as novelist Jenny Schecter, a major character in the drama series The L Word (2004). She remained with the show for all six seasons until 2009. She received numerous honors for her work as Jenny Schecter, and a global fan base followed her character throughout the seasons of The L Word.

Mia appeared in Brian De Palma’s 2006 film The Black Dahlia, in which she played Elizabeth Short, a young aspiring actress who was inexplicably maimed and murdered in 1947. While the film was critically lambasted, several reviews praised her performance. Mia also co-starred in the 2010 film 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, which began production in the fall of 2009. In 2010, she was cast as Isobel Fleming, a guest star on The Vampire Diaries.

In 2011, she played the titular role in Bear 71 (2012), a National Film Board of Canada web documentary that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

Facts and Trivia

Mia Kirshner was named #43 on Maxim’s Hot 100 Women of 2002. She and Beverly Polcyn were nominated for Best Kiss at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards for their role in Not Another Teen Movie (2001). Mia was announced in 2012 as the face of Monica Rich Kosann’s jewelry collection.

Mia is already Canada’s most awarded female artist, but she is also a celebrated writer, having received critical acclaim for her 2007 book I Live Here. I Live Here is a paper documentary that takes viewers on an intimate trip through four humanitarian crises around the world: conflict in Chechnya, ethnic cleansing in Burma, globalization in Mexico, and AIDS in Malawi.

Mia, who speaks French fluently, is a notorious prankster who performed practical tricks on the sets of The L Word (2004) and Defiance (2013).

In 2017, she alleged Harvey Weinstein attempted to have his way with her in 1994. The incident could explain why Kirshner’s film career did not take off following her highly anticipated role in Exotica (1994).