Laura Vandervoort: The Life Story Behind the Supergirl Star

Laura Vandervoort is the actress who played Supergirl on Smallville, and she did it in a way that made the character feel strong, kind, and real all at once. When she arrived on the show in 2007, Kara Zor-El was a young woman from another planet who had to learn how to live on Earth, how to control her powers, and how to be a hero. Vandervoort played her with a warmth that made audiences love her, and with a physical strength that made the action scenes believable. She was not a copy of Superman. She was her own person, and she made Supergirl her own. That is a rare thing to do with a character that so many people already love.

She was born in Toronto, Ontario, and she grew up in a city that is full of film and television work. She was a sporty child, good at martial arts and at games, and she was not afraid of hard work. She started acting when she was still a child, and she learned the business from the inside, taking small roles and learning how a set worked. By the time she was a teenager, she was a working actress, and by the time she was in her twenties, she was a star. Her path was not a sudden one. It was a steady climb, built on years of small jobs and honest work.

What makes her story worth telling is the range of it. She went from a teen drama to a superhero show, from a science fiction series about visitors from another world to a drama about a werewolf, and from television to film and back again. She has played heroes, villains, mothers, and fighters, and she has done it with a calm that makes each character feel real. She is also a writer, a producer, and a person who cares about animals and about the world around her. This is the story of how a girl from Toronto became one of Canada’s most versatile actresses, and how she kept growing long after the cape came off.

A Toronto Childhood, Sport, and an Early Start

Laura Dianne Vandervoort was born on 22 September 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto in the nineteen eighties was a growing city, full of new buildings, new people, and new ideas, and it was also a city where film and television work was common. Her family was not part of the entertainment world, but Toronto itself was full of it, and a child who was interested in acting did not have far to look. Vandervoort was a lively child, good at sport, and interested in many things. She played games, she ran, she swam, and she learned martial arts, which would later help her a great deal as an actress. She was not a quiet child who sat in a corner. She was a child who wanted to move, to try things, and to see what she could do.

She began acting when she was still young, taking small roles in Canadian television and in commercials. She learned how a set worked, how to take direction, and how to be ready when the camera was ready. She was still going to school at the same time, and she had to learn how to balance her studies with her work. That is hard for a child, and it takes a family that supports the work and a child who is willing to do it. Vandervoort had both, and she kept going. She did not become famous overnight. She worked in small parts for years, and each part taught her something new about acting and about herself.

Her interest in martial arts also shaped her life. She trained in karate, and she earned a black belt, which is a sign of years of hard work and discipline. Martial arts taught her how to move, how to be strong, and how to be calm under pressure. Those lessons would help her later when she played action roles, because she could do many of her own stunts and she could make a fight look real. She did not learn to fight for a film. She learned to fight because she loved it, and the films came later. That is an important difference, and it shows in her work.

By the time she was a teenager, she was a working actress with a growing list of credits. She had appeared in Canadian television shows, she had learned how to act for a camera, and she was ready for a bigger role. She was still young, and she was still learning, but she had a foundation that many actors never get: years of small work, a strong body, and a calm mind. The girl from Toronto was becoming a professional, and the professional was about to get her first big break.

Goosebumps, Instant Star, and the Teen Years

One of Vandervoort’s early roles was in Goosebumps, the popular children’s horror series based on the books by R. L. Stine, in which she appeared as a guest star. The show was filmed in Canada, and it was watched by children all over the world. It was a good place for a young actress to learn, because it asked her to play fear, surprise, and courage in a short time. She did it well, and she moved on to other roles. She also appeared in other Canadian television shows, building her credits one at a time, and learning how to work with different directors and different casts.

Her first major role came in Instant Star, a Canadian teen drama that began in 2004, in which she played Sadie Harrison. The show was about a young singer who wins a songwriting contest and becomes a star, and it was made for a young audience. Vandervoort played Sadie for several seasons, and the role gave her a steady job and a chance to grow as an actress. Sadie was a friend, a sister, and a young woman finding her way, and Vandervoort played her with warmth and honesty. The show was popular in Canada, and it gave her a name that casting directors knew.

During these years she was also growing up in public, which is hard for any teenager. She was working, she was going to school, and she was trying to live a normal life at the same time. She did it with a calm that many people noticed. She did not seek attention for its own sake, and she did not make a fuss about her work. She did the work, and she went home. That attitude would stay with her for her whole career, and it is part of why people like working with her. She is professional, she is prepared, and she is kind to the people around her.

Instant Star ended, and Vandervoort moved on to new work. She had proved that she could carry a role in a long-running series, and she had proved that she could play a character who grew and changed over time. She was ready for something bigger, and something bigger was coming. It would be a superhero show, and it would make her famous around the world. The teen years had been her school, and she had learned well. Now it was time for the next step.

Smallville and Becoming Supergirl

In 2007, Laura Vandervoort joined Smallville as Kara Zor-El, better known as Supergirl, the cousin of Clark Kent. She appeared in the seventh season, and she became one of the most popular new characters on the show. Kara was a young woman from Krypton who had been sent to Earth to look after Clark, but who had arrived late and who had to learn how to live in a world that was strange to her. Vandervoort played her as strong, funny, and kind, a woman who could fly and lift a car, but who also had to learn how to be a friend and how to be a hero. The audience loved her, and many fans said that she was the best Supergirl they had ever seen.

Playing Supergirl meant doing a lot of action. Vandervoort did many of her own stunts, using her martial arts training to make the fights look real. She wore the costume, she flew on wires, and she worked long hours in the Vancouver rain. She also had to play the emotional side of Kara, a young woman who had lost her home planet and who was trying to find a new home on Earth. She played that loss with a quiet sadness that made the character feel real. She was not only a superhero. She was a person who had lost everything and who was trying to build a new life. That is a story that many people understand, and Vandervoort told it well.

She appeared in Smallville for two seasons, and she returned for guest appearances later. Her time on the show made her famous around the world, and it gave her a place in superhero history. Fans still talk about her Supergirl today, and they still ask her about the role at conventions. She has always spoken warmly about the show and about the people she worked with there. She knows that the role meant a lot to people, and she is proud of it. She also knows that it was only one part of her career, and she has worked hard to show that she can do much more.

After Smallville, she did not try to repeat the role. She moved on to new work, and she looked for roles that were different. She had played a hero, and now she wanted to play other kinds of people. That is a brave choice, because many actors would stay with the role that made them famous. Vandervoort chose to grow, and that choice has shaped the rest of her career. The cape came off, but the work went on, and it went on in new and interesting directions.

V, Bitten, and a New Kind of Leading Lady

After Smallville, Vandervoort took a leading role in V, a science fiction series that began in 2009, in which she played Lisa, a young visitor from another world who begins to question her own people. The show was about aliens who come to Earth pretending to be friends, and about the humans who resist them. Vandervoort played Lisa as a young woman who was torn between her family and her conscience, and she did it with a calm that made the character believable. The show ran for two seasons, and it gave her a chance to play a more complex character than Kara. Lisa was not a hero in a simple way. She was a person making hard choices, and Vandervoort played those choices well.

In 2014, she took the lead role in Bitten, a Canadian series based on the novels by Kelley Armstrong, in which she played Elena Michaels, a werewolf who is trying to live a normal life in Toronto. The show ran for three seasons, and it was a different kind of work from anything she had done before. Elena was a woman who was strong, independent, and haunted by her past, and Vandervoort played her with a toughness that surprised many people. She did action scenes, she played emotional scenes, and she carried the show. Bitten was popular with its fans, and it gave Vandervoort a new audience who knew her as Elena, not as Supergirl.

These two roles showed her range. She could play a visitor from another world, a werewolf, a superhero, and a teenager, and she could make each one feel real. She was not an actress who played only one kind of part. She was an actress who could change, and who was willing to change. That willingness is rare, and it is the reason she has worked steadily for so many years. Directors knew that she could do the work, and they knew that she would do it well, no matter what the role was.

During these years she also appeared in films, including the horror film The Entitled and the thriller Broken Trust, and she took guest roles in American television shows. She was building a career that was not tied to one show or one character. She was building a career that was about her, about her skill, and about her ability to play many kinds of people. That is a strong career, and it is one that lasts, because it does not depend on one hit. It depends on the actress, and the actress was good.

Film Work, Writing, and Life Beyond Television

In recent years, Vandervoort has worked in film as well as television, taking roles in independent films and in larger productions. She appeared in the film Jigsaw, part of the Saw series, in 2017, playing a detective in a horror story that was watched around the world. She has also appeared in Christmas films, in thrillers, and in dramas, and she has shown that she can move between genres without losing her footing. She is not an actress who needs a big budget to be good. She is good in a small film, in a large series, and in a guest role. That ability is rare, and it is the reason she keeps working.

She has also become a writer and a producer. She wrote a children’s book, and she has worked on projects behind the camera. She wants to tell stories, not only to act in them, and she is learning how to do that. Writing a book for children is a different skill from acting, and it shows a person who is thinking about the next generation. She wants to make work that is kind, that is honest, and that helps young people to see the world in a better way. That is a good goal, and it is one that fits her.

She is also known for her love of animals, and she has worked with animal charities and spoken about the importance of treating animals well. She has a dog, and she has spoken about how much animals mean to her. That care for animals is part of who she is, and it is part of why her fans love her. She is not only an actress. She is a person who cares about the world around her, and who uses her fame to help the things she believes in. That is a good use of fame, and it is one that more famous people should try.

Her personal life has remained private, and she has kept her relationships out of the public eye as much as she can. She was engaged to the actor Oliver Trevena, and that engagement later ended, and she has spoken little about it. She prefers to let her work speak for her, and she prefers to keep her private life private. That is a wise choice, and it has helped her to keep her career steady. She works, she goes home, and she lives her life. That is enough for her, and it is a good way to live.

Why Laura Vandervoort Keeps Working

Laura Vandervoort keeps working because she is good at her job, and because she is willing to do the work. She is not a star who waits for the perfect role. She takes the roles that interest her, she does them well, and she moves on to the next one. She has worked in Canada and in the United States, in television and in film, in science fiction and in drama, and she has done it all with a calm that makes her easy to work with. Directors know that she will be prepared, that she will do her own stunts when she can, and that she will treat everyone on the set with respect. That reputation is worth more than any award, because it is what keeps a person working for decades.

As she moves into the next part of her career, she has the freedom to choose. She can act, she can write, she can produce, and she can tell the stories she cares about. She has the experience, she has the skill, and she has the audience. That is a good place to be, and it is a place she has earned through years of hard work. The girl from Toronto who played Supergirl is now a woman who makes her own work, and that is a story worth telling. She is still growing, still learning, and still finding new ways to tell stories. Her best work may still be ahead of her.

She also keeps working because she loves the work. She loves to act, she loves to write, and she loves to tell stories. She is not doing it for the money alone, although the money matters. She is doing it because it is what she was made to do. She started as a child, she learned the craft, and she has never stopped learning. She is still curious, still willing to try new things, and still willing to take a risk. That curiosity is what keeps a career alive, and it is what makes her work interesting to watch. When I think about the years she spent on sets in Toronto and Vancouver, I see a woman who never took a shortcut, who never asked for special treatment, and who earned every step she took. She learned her lines, she learned her stunts, and she learned how to work with people who were very different from her. That is a rare thing in a business that often rewards the loudest voice, and it is a thing that deserves to be remembered. Her fans have stayed with her for a long time because they can see that honesty in her work, and because they know that she will not let them down.

My Take:

When I think about Laura Vandervoort, the first thing I think about is strength, and not only the kind of strength that lets a person lift a car on television. I think about the strength it takes to start acting as a child, to work for years in small roles, and to keep going when no one knows your name. That is a quiet strength, and it is a hard one to build. Vandervoort built it, and she has kept it for her whole career. She did not become famous overnight. She became famous slowly, by doing the work, and that is why her fame has lasted. I admire that, because slow fame is real fame, and fast fame often fades.

I think about Supergirl, and I think about how hard it must have been to play a character that so many people already loved. Kara Zor-El is not a small character. She is a hero, and heroes are hard to play, because they have to be strong and kind at the same time, and they have to be human even when they can fly. Vandervoort played her as a real person, a young woman who had lost her home and who was trying to find a new one. I think that is why people loved her Kara. She was not a perfect hero. She was a person who was trying, and that trying is what made her a hero. I find that moving, because it is a lesson for all of us: you do not have to be perfect to be good. You have to try, and you have to keep trying.

I also think about her martial arts training, because it tells me something about who she is. She did not learn to fight for a film. She learned to fight because she loved it, because she wanted to be strong, and because she wanted to be disciplined. That discipline shows in her work. She is prepared, she is calm, and she is ready when the camera is ready. She does not need to be told twice. She knows her job, and she does it. I respect that, because discipline is a quality that many people talk about and few people practice. Vandervoort practices it, and it shows.

I think about Bitten, and I think it is one of her best roles, because Elena Michaels is a complicated woman. She is a werewolf, she is trying to live a normal life, and she is haunted by her past. That is a hard character to play, because she has to be tough and vulnerable at the same time. Vandervoort played her with a toughness that surprised me, and with a sadness that made her real. I think that role showed that she could do more than play a hero. She could play a person who was broken and strong at the same time, and that is a harder thing to do. I admire her for taking that role, and for doing it so well for three seasons.

I think about V, too, and about how she played Lisa, a young woman who had to choose between her family and her conscience. That is a story that many people understand, because we all have to make choices between loyalty and what is right. Vandervoort played that choice with a calm that made it believable. She did not shout, she did not overdo it, and she let the audience see the pain in her eyes. That is good acting, and it is the kind of acting that comes from a person who has thought about the character, not just learned the lines. I think she thinks about her characters, and I think that is why they feel real.

I think about her work as a writer, and I think it is a brave step. Writing a children’s book is not easy, and it is not the kind of thing that every actress tries. She tried it because she wanted to tell a story for young people, and because she wanted to make something kind. That tells me that she is thinking about the next generation, and about what kind of world she wants to leave behind. I respect that, because many famous people only think about themselves. She is thinking about children she will never meet, and she is trying to give them a good story. That is a generous thing to do.

I think about her love of animals, and I think it is part of the same generosity. She cares about animals, she works with charities, and she speaks up for them. That is a good use of fame, because fame gives a person a voice, and a voice can be used to help. She uses hers to help animals, and I think that is a fine thing. It also tells me that she is a kind person, because kindness to animals is often a sign of kindness to people. She is kind to both, and that is why her fans love her.

I think about her private life, and I respect the way she has kept it private. She does not share everything, she does not chase attention, and she does not need the world to watch her every day. She works, she goes home, and she lives her life. That is a choice, and it is a wise one, because a life lived for the cameras is not a life at all. She has kept a part of herself for herself, and I think that is why she has stayed sane in a business that makes many people lose their way. I admire that quiet, and I think more people should try it.

I think about what a young actress could learn from her, and the lesson is clear. Learn the craft, take the small roles, do them well, and do not be in a hurry. Learn a skill that helps you, like martial arts, and use it when you need it. Be patient, be prepared, and be ready when the big role comes. When it comes, play it as if it were your own, because it is yours. And when it ends, do not try to repeat it. Move on, try something new, and keep growing. Vandervoort did all of that, and she built a career that has lasted for more than twenty years. That is not luck. That is a life built on purpose.

I think about the future, and I hope she keeps writing and producing, because she has the skill and the experience to tell stories that matter. I would like to see her make more work about strong women, about families, and about the lives of ordinary people. She has shown that she can do that work well, and I think the world needs more of it. She has the freedom to choose now, and I hope she chooses the stories that mean the most to her. That is how good work is made, and it is how a good career continues.

I think about the girls who watched Smallville and who saw themselves in Supergirl. For many of them, Kara was the first character who showed them that a girl could be strong and kind at the same time, that she could fly and still be a friend, and that she could be a hero without losing herself. Vandervoort gave those girls that character, and she gave it to them with honesty. That is a gift, and it is a gift that lasts longer than any award. I think she knows that, and I think it is part of why she keeps working. She knows that stories matter, and that the people who watch them matter, and she takes that seriously.

In the end, I think Laura Vandervoort teaches us that strength can be quiet, and that a quiet strength can last a long time. She was strong as a child, strong as Supergirl, strong as Elena Michaels, and strong as a writer and a producer. She was strong when the work was hard, and strong when the work was good. Strength is not about shouting. It is about showing up every day, doing the work well, and going home to the people you love. Vandervoort has done that, and it has worked for her. That is a lesson worth learning, and it is a lesson that many young people need to hear.

I keep coming back to the idea of versatility, because it is the word that fits her best. She has played a teenager, a superhero, a visitor from another world, a werewolf, a detective, and a mother, and she has played each one well. That is not easy, and it is not common. Many actors play one kind of role for their whole life. She has played many, and she has played them all with care. I admire that, and I think it is the reason she will keep working for many years to come. A versatile actress is an actress who is always needed, and Vandervoort is needed.

One more thought stays with me, and it is about the way she treats the people she works with. A star can make a set a good place to work, or a bad one, and the choice is hers every day. Vandervoort has a reputation for being kind, for listening, and for treating the crew with respect. That reputation is not something that can be faked for long. People on a set see the truth very fast, and they remember it. She has earned a good name, and that good name has helped her to keep working, because directors and producers want to work with people they trust. That is a simple truth, and it is one that young actors should hear.

I also think about the long view, and about what her career will look like in ten years. She is still able to play many kinds of roles, and she is experienced enough to produce and write her own work. That combination is powerful, and it gives her a freedom that few actors have. She does not have to wait for someone to offer her a job. She can make her own jobs, and she can tell the stories she cares about. I hope she does that, and I hope she tells stories about strong women, about families, and about the world as it really is. She has the skill to do it, and she has the audience to watch it.

I think about the fans who have followed her from Smallville to Bitten to her films, and I think about why they stay. They stay because she is honest, because she works hard, and because she treats them with respect. She answers their questions at conventions, she listens to them, and she thanks them for watching. That may sound small, but it is not small. Many famous people forget the people who made them famous. Vandervoort has not forgotten them, and they have not forgotten her. That is a fair trade, and it is a trade that has lasted for more than twenty years.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Laura Vandervoort born?

Laura Vandervoort was born on 22 September 1984 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and she began acting as a child in Canadian television.

What role did Laura Vandervoort play in Smallville?

She played Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl, Clark Kent’s cousin, joining Smallville in season seven in 2007.

What is Bitten?

Bitten is a Canadian series from 2014 to 2016 based on the novels by Kelley Armstrong, in which Vandervoort starred as Elena Michaels, a werewolf trying to live a normal life.

Did Laura Vandervoort star in V?

Yes, she played Lisa, a young visitor from another world, in the science fiction series V, which ran from 2009 to 2011.

Is Laura Vandervoort a martial artist?

Yes, she trained in karate and earned a black belt, and her martial arts skill helped her to do many of her own action scenes.

Did Laura Vandervoort write a children’s book?

Yes, she wrote a children’s book and has worked as a writer and producer, alongside her acting career in film and television.

What films has Laura Vandervoort appeared in?

Her film work includes Jigsaw in 2017, plus roles in independent thrillers, dramas and Christmas films.