Claim: Lily Collins attended University of Southern California to study broadcast journalism.

Lily Jane Collins -LRB- born 18 March 1989 -RRB- is a British-American actress and model . The daughter of English musician Phil Collins and an American mother , Jill Tavelman , she was born in Surrey and moved to Los Angeles as a child . Her first screen role was at the age of two in the BBC series Growing Pains . She went on to study broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California and as a teenager , wrote for Seventeen magazine , Teen Vogue , and The Los Angeles Times . She was named International Model of the Year by Spain 's Glamour magazine after being selected by Chanel to wear one of their gowns at the Hotel de Crillon in 2007 . In 2008 , she was named Newest Red Carpet Correspondent and One to Watch in 2008 .   Collins appeared as a guest star on the teen drama television series 90210 in 2009 , followed by her feature film debut in the semi-biographical sports film The Blind Side . She had leading roles in the sci-fi action-horror film Priest -LRB- 2011 -RRB- and the psychological action-thriller film Abduction , and was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress -- Sci-Fi/Fantasy for her role as Snow White in the fantasy film Mirror Mirror . She received wider recognition after taking on the role of Clary Fray in the fantasy film adaptation of Cassandra Clare 's The New York Times best-selling novel , The Mortal Instruments : City of Bones , for which she was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress -- Action and an MTV Movie Award .   Collins is also known for her roles in independent films , such as the romantic comedy-drama Stuck in Love -LRB- 2012 -RRB- , the romantic comedy The English Teacher -LRB- 2013 -RRB- , and the romantic comedy-drama Love , Rosie -LRB- 2014 -RRB- . She won the New Hollywood Film Award and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy her role as Marla Mabrey in Rules Do n't Apply -LRB- 2016 -RRB- . In 2017 , her debut novel , Unfiltered : No Shame , No Regrets , Just Me , was released to critical praise . In May 2017 , Lily Collins and Marti Noxon were honoured at Project Heal for their movie To the Bone .