<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 2007--present </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Height </Th> <Td> 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) </Td> </Tr> <P> Shay Mitchell (born Shannon Ashley Mitchell; April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress, model, entrepreneur and author . She rose to prominence starring as Emily Fields in the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars (2010--2017). </P> <P> Mitchell was born in Mississauga, Ontario, the daughter of Precious Garcia and Mark Mitchell . Her parents work in finance . Her father is of Scottish and Irish descent and her mother, a Filipina, is from the province of Pampanga, and left the Philippines at age 19 . She has one younger brother named Sean . She is a first cousin - once - removed of Lea Salonga, singer and Tony Award - winning theater actress well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon . Even as a young child, Mitchell was interested in performing arts, declaring to her parents that she would pursue such a career . Mitchell began dance lessons at the age of five, and she and several of her classmates toured the city to compete with a variety of other dance schools . At the age of 10, Mitchell's family moved to West Vancouver, British Columbia . Within a year of their arrival, an international modeling agency held an open casting call for teen and pre-teen girls who were vying for representation . Mitchell was one of the girls selected . She attended Rockridge Secondary School and then later transferred to West Vancouver Secondary School where she graduated . She got the nickname Shay because she's a big fan of Jennifer Lopez aka J. Lo, so her friends called her "Shay Lo". </P>

Who plays emily fields in pretty little liars