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Heather Morris

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For the Silent Hill actress, see Heather Morris (voice actress).
Heather Morris
Morris at the San Diego Comic-Con International, July 2010
Born
Heather Elizabeth Morris

(1987-02-01) February 1, 1987 (age 37)
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation(s)Dancer, actress, singer
Years active2006–present
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)

Heather Elizabeth Morris (born February 1, 1987) is an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for her role as the cheerleader Brittany S. Pierce in the musical comedy series Glee.

Early life

She began dancing when she was one.[1] Morris competed at a young age in a variety of styles including jazz, tap, and contemporary. Morris's father passed away of cancer when she was 14 years old. "It's something that is hard for me, because I'm sad about it, but I don't dwell on it," she said during an interview workshop with students in December 2009. "I know he's in a better place, instead of suffering."[2][3] In high school, Morris was a member of the cheerleading squad.[4] After graduating from Desert Mountain High School, Morris decided to enroll in a local university but realized she was in the wrong place and moved to L.A. instead at age 19.[5]

Career

Morris' first significant appearance was in 2006 on So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 where she made the "green mile" or "Vegas Week" but failed to make the final 20 by a vote of 3-2.[6]

Not discouraged, Morris moved to Los Angeles and actively pursued a career in dancing and was trained in jazz dance. Her big break came in 2007 via Beyoncé. Morris was one of Beyoncé's backup dancers on The Beyoncé Experience world tour and,[7] following that, worked again with Beyoncé on a mini "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" promotional tour that included 2008 performances on the American Music Awards,[8] Saturday Night Live,[9] The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Today,[9] and MTV's Total Request Live finale. She also danced backup for Beyoncé and Tina Turner at the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008.[10][11] She later appeared in a small role in the movie Fired Up, where she met choreographer Zach Woodlee. Following that film, Woodlee brought Morris in to dance on other shows he was choreographing, including episodes of Eli Stone and Swingtown, the movie Bedtime Stories, and eventually Glee.[12]

In December 2010 Morris was named the Celebrity Style Ambassador for FLIRT! Cosmetics, an Estee Lauder cosmetics line.[13]

In 2010 Morris made the Maxim Hot 100 list, coming in at number 85. On the AfterEllen hot 100 list she was ranked #2 behind Naya Rivera.

In 2011 Morris starred in a back-to-school commercial for Staples Canada that featured her dancing.

In the October 2011 issue of Fitness magazine, Heather Morris stated that she has had her breast implants removed. She was quoted saying "Implants were something I thought I wanted when I was younger, and now I don't, It was hard being active with them, because my chest was always sore. It hurt a lot, and I didn't like always being in pain, so they had to go!"[14] Her breast implant surgery was done sometime between her time on So You Think You Can Dance at age 18 and age 21 when she was a backup dancer for Beyoncé. [15]

Glee

Morris was taking acting classes and actively pursuing an acting career when she was asked by Woodlee to teach the choreography for Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" dance to the Glee actors. At the same time, the show was looking for a third cheerleader, and Morris ended up landing the role of Brittany.[9] Initially a background character who hardly ever spoke, the role grew as writers discovered Morris had a gift for delivering one-liners.[16] Jarrett Wieselman of the New York Post opined that Morris has "emerged as one of the funniest second bananas on TV right now"[17] and the LA Times wrote of having a "comedy crush on Morris, who plays the galactically dim Glee Club cheerleader Brittany".[18]

When a promotional clip for the episode "Sectionals" indicated that Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez had slept together, Dorothy Snarker, writing for lesbian entertainment website After Ellen, praised the pairing, referring to them by the portmanteau "Brittana".[19] Snarker called the two her "new favorite Glee pairing", commenting that: "While Heather Morris (Brittany) and Naya Rivera (Santana) have had minimal screen time, they've made it count. Heather in particular has brought the laughs as the Cheerio least likely to get a Mensa invitation. Never mind Finn and Rachel — I'm on Team Brittana now."[19]

Morris' role became more prominent during the final nine episodes of season one and, due to the overwhelmingly positive response to her character, was promoted to official series regular status during season two.[20] She was at the center of the second episode, "Britney/Brittany", (a tribute to Britney Spears) where she made her singing debut covering Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U" solo and dueting with Naya Rivera on "Me Against the Music". She later got many other singing and dancing solos. The second half of season two saw Morris' character engage in a lesbian storyline with Rivera's character. Both the arc along with Rivera's and Morris' performances were met with critical acclaim. As on Glee, Morris is best friends in real life with co-star Rivera.[21]

In Season 3, her and Rivera's characters continues with the lesbian storyline, and others. For example she had a large role in the episode "Prom-asaurus".

During the 2011 Glee Tour Heather performed Britney Spears' song "I'm a Slave 4 U". She also had a dance spotlight with castmate Harry Shum Jr. during Naya Rivera's performance of "Valerie," and was one of the dancers in the Single Ladies and Safety Dance numbers.

Morris co-wrote and appeared in a January 2011 video for Funny or Die, "Nuthin' But A Glee Thang," a take-off of the Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg collaboration "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang". Co-written with actresses Ashley Lendzion and Riki Lindhome, the video features appearances from Modern Family's Sofia Vergara and Morris's Glee castmates Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Harry Shum, Jr., and Naya Rivera.[22]

Filmography

Morris in March 2011
Music Video appearances
Year Artist Song Title Notes
2008 An-Ya Nightlife[23] Dancer
2008 The White Tie Affair Allow Me To Introduce Myself... Mr. Right/Candle (Sick and Tired)[24]
2008 Hit the Lights Drop the Girl[25]
2011 Leo Moctezuma 2 Da Left [26]
Film appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Bedtime Stories Cat Girl Uncredited
2009 Fired Up! Fiona Minor role
2011 Glee: The 3D Concert Movie Brittany Pierce
2012 Ice Age: Continental Drift Katie, The Gossip Girl Voice
2013 Spring Breakers[27] Pre-Production
Television appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Beyoncé Experience Dancer DVD: The Beyoncé Experience Live
2008 Swingtown Red Dress Disco Girl Uncredited, Episode: "Get Down Tonight"
2008 Eli Stone Street Dancer/Back-Up Dancer Uncredited, Episodes: "The Path" and "The Humanitarian"
2009-
present 		Glee Brittany Pierce Season 1 - Series Recurring.
Season 2,3 – Series Regular

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Group (shared with Glee Cast)

2010 How I Met Your Mother Dancer in Pink Shirt Uncredited, Episode: "Girls Versus Suits"
2011 Staples Commercial Herself/Dancer Back-to-school commercial for Staples (Canada)
2012 Punk'd Herself Guest host

Awards and nominations

Award Year Category Result Role
Playhouse West Film Foundation 2011 PWFF Grand Jury Awards 2011 Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film Won Lily in a Short Film called POST by Jim Parrack

Discography

Further information: Glee Cast discography

References

  1. ^ "Star from Hit TV Show Visits Good Morning WNY". WKBW. December 31, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  2. ^ livestarringyou (2010-12-08). "Heather Morris on playing un-glee-ful moments". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  3. ^ "Stars Stand Up: Teen Choice Awards". YouTube. 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  4. ^ http://www.americancheerleader.com/celebs-who-cheered/
  5. ^ Erin Balse and Suzanne Gardner. "Don't Stop Believin': The Unofficial Guide to Glee." ECW Press. 2010
  6. ^ "So You Think You Can Dance 2, June 8: Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas". Reality News Online. September 6, 2006. Retrieved January 8, 2010. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Glee : La vie des acteurs avant la série" (in French). News de stars. 2011-05-30.
  8. ^ "Beyonce "Single Ladies" American Music Awards". Youtube.com. 2009-01-10. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  9. ^ a b c "Young Entertainers Get a Taste of Hollywood". My Buffalo. December 31, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  10. ^ "Beyonce - Tina Turner - Introduction Performance (Grammy 2008)". Dailymotion.com. 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  11. ^ "Tina Turner & Beyonce - Proud Mary (Grammy 2008)". Dailymotion.com. 2008-03-22. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  12. ^ [1][dead link]
  13. ^ "'Glee's' Heather Morris will FLIRT! with cosmetics line". Blog.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  14. ^ "Oops! Heather Morris Suffers an Emmy Nip Slip - Glee". Wetpaint.com. 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  15. ^ Brooks, Hanna. "Heather Morris: My Breast Implants "Had To Go"". Blisstree. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  16. ^ "TV: Heather Morris has become a reliable comic voice on 'Glee'". ScrippsNews. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  17. ^ Wieselman, Jarrett (November 19, 2009). "'Glee's' secret weapon". New York Post. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  18. ^ "Underrated / Overrated". The Los Angeles Times. April 25, 2010.
  19. ^ a b Snarker, Dorothy (December 7, 2009). ""Glee" spoils us with an unexpected coupling". After Ellen. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  20. ^ Hibberd, James (2010-04-27). "'Glee' exclusive: Brittany and Santana poised for major promotions | Inside TV | EW.com". Ausiellofiles.ew.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  21. ^ "Glee's Summer Fun". OK! US edition. Northern & Shell North America. July 19, 2010. pp. 50–51. issue #29.
  22. ^ "Nuthin' But A Glee Thang with Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison & Sofia Vergara from Heather Morris, Sofia Vergara, Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Harry Shum Jr, Riki Lindhome, Ashley Lendzion, David Bernad, Isaac Hagy, BoTown Sound, Shauna O'Toole, Funny Or Die, Keith Schofield, Brian Mulchy, and Christin Trogan". Funnyordie.com. 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  23. ^ "An-Ya "Nightlife"". Youtube.com. 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  24. ^ "Allow Me To Introduce Myself...Mr. Right/Candle (Sick And Tired)"". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  25. ^ Hit the Lights "Drop the Girl"[dead link]
  26. ^ "2 Da Left - Heather Morris Cameo For Leo Moctezuma". YouTube. 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  27. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2101441/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2101441/
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