Danielle Rose Russell

**Danielle Rose Christian Russell** (born October 31, 1993) is a Canadian-born American actress, model, singer, producer, director, and dancer who portrays Hope Mikaelson on *The Originals* and reprise her role on *Teen Wolf* and *Teen Wolf: The Movie*.

## Biography

Danielle was born in Montreal, Canada, and raised in West Milford, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Rosemary Rado, a former dancer and Rockette, and Ricky Russell, a former singer. She initially pursued modeling in her youth, appearing in print ads and commercials, before pursuing regional theater and appearing in several school plays at Holy Spirit School in Pequannock, New Jersey. As of 2009, she was finishing high school via online coursework.

Eventually she would get into a relationship with her co-star and her on screen husband, Cody Christian. She lived in Los Angeles, California while filming *Teen Wolf* and spent the rest of her time in Chicago, Illinois until March 1, 2019 before moving to British Columbia, Canada with her three kids and her then boyfriend.

## Trivia

* She's 17 days younger than Devon Allowitz, who played Henrik, her character's long deceased uncle whose death was the catalyst for the Originals creation.
* She views herself "extremely" similar to her character, Hope Mikaelson.
* She has two citizenship one in the USA and the other in Canada.
* She enjoys traveling and wants to do it more.
* She has been acting since the age of ten.
* Her favorite animal is an owl.
* She stated that the reunion scenes between Klaus and Hope were really rewarding to film, especially due to Joseph Morgan's acting ability.
* She was a fan of *The Vampire Diaries* prior to getting the role of Hope, but had never seen *The Originals* before. It wasn't until she was close to getting the role that she watched the whole series.
* Danielle played the daughter of Sebastian Roché's character in *A Walk Among The Tombstones*. Sebastian portrayed Mikael in *The Vampire Diaries* and *The Originals*, who is the step-grandfather of her character Hope Mikaelson.
* When asked to describe Season Five of *The Originals* in three words, she used the words, *"heartbreaking"*, *"emotional"*, and *"family"*.
* She was a big fan of *Teen Wolf* before getting the news that the The Vampire Diaries Universe is merging with The Teen Wolf Universe.
* Danielle was roommates with Jenny Boyd and Kaylee Bryant while they were filming *The Originals* and *Teen Wolf*.
* Like her co-stars, Adelaide Kane, Jenny Boyd, and Kaylee Bryant, Danielle has admitted that she is Team Scallison.
* She is fluent in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Japanese.
* She's best friends with most of her main co-stars.
	+ She is the closes to Tyler Posey, Dylan O'Brien, Tyler Hoechlin, Adelaide Kane, Crystal Reed, Jenny Boyd, Kaylee Bryant, Sarah Jeffery, Holland Roden, Arden Cho, and Shelley Hennig.
* She is close friends to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
	+ Danielle is the godmother to Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
* Danielle is skilled in Boxing, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and Jujitsu.
* While she's wasn't filming *Teen Wolf,* she resided in Chicago.
* Danielle dated her co-star Daniel Sharman on December 6, 2011 and split only after almost 4 years on September 20, 2015 and they're both still really close friends after their breakup.
	+ They have a child together named Jace Sharman Russell on October 30, 2013.
		- Danielle found out she was pregnant during filming of Season 3 on April 7, 2013.
			* During San Diego Comic-Con on July 7, 2013 she announced to the fans that she's pregnant.
* She started dating her co-star, Cody Christian on May 2, 2016 before getting married on June 22, 2019.
	+ They have three kids together; the twins Reese and Luna Christian Russell on December 24, 2018 and Salem Christian Russell on June 12, 2020.
* She played Malissa "Mal" Madden in Stranger Things Season 3, Season 4, and the upcoming Season 5.
	+ She is best friends with her Stranger Things co stars Sofia Carson and Dacre Montgomery.
* She and Cody moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on March 1, 2019.
	+ Danielle admits that moving to Canada helped with her mental health.
* She was one of the first people to know about the *Teen Wolf Movie*.