Natalie Kuckenburg

Biography

Torrey Joël DeVitto (born June 8, 1984) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and former fashion model. Her first starring role was as Karen Kerr on the ABC Family drama series Beautiful People (2005–2006). She followed this up with recurring roles as Carrie in The CW drama series One Tree Hill (2008–2009), as Melissa Hastings in the ABC Family/Freeform mystery drama series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017), and as Dr. Meredith Fell in The CW fantasy drama series The Vampire Diaries (2012–2013). DeVitto went on to star as Maggie Hall in the final season of Lifetime's drama series Army Wives (2013) and as Dr. Natalie Manning in the NBC medical drama series Chicago Med (2015–2021).

== Early life == Torrey Joel DeVitto was born and raised in Huntington on Long Island, New York, and Winter Park, Florida. Her parents are Mary and Liberty DeVitto; her father was a long-time drummer for Billy Joel. They met in 1983. DeVitto is of Italian descent, her paternal grandmother is from Naples while her paternal grandfather is from Sicily. As a child, DeVitto spent a lot of time touring with her parents. She described her childhood to CVLUX magazine by saying: "We spent every Thanksgiving at Billy Joel's house. I grew up with his daughter, Alexa; it was a lot of warm, happy memories." Her mother Mary had been Stevie Nicks's best friend since the late 1970s and met Liberty when he was the drummer on Stevie's Wild Heart Tour. On the day of her birth, Joel was performing at the Wembley Arena and made a special note before beginning "The Longest Time" that DeVitto's wife was having a baby, causing a standing ovation for DeVitto, who was playing the drums at the concert. She was named Torrey after her mother's maiden name. She has two sisters, Devon and Maryelle. Her sister Maryelle was in the TV series Endurance. DeVitto attended Fort Salonga Elementary School, part of Kings Park Central School District. She began taking violin lessons at age six and by the fourth grade, she was playing with the local high school orchestra. When DeVitto was 12 years old, she played a solo violin piece at Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook's wedding. She played in the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra (1995–1997) and in the Florida Youth Artist Orchestra (1998–1999). She attended Youngsville Elementary School, part of Kings Park Central School District. She studied dance with the Kings Park Dance Center in New York and took acting classes at Zoe & Company in Orlando, Florida. After graduating from Winter Park High School in Winter Park, Florida, she spent her summer in Japan working as a model and had earlier spent time in Chicago.

== Career ==

=== 1990s === DeVitto's modeling career started at age 15, when she began appearing in commercials, which she described to be a stepping stone to get to TV and film jobs. She was signed to Ford and Avenue One modeling agencies. Staying true to her love of music in 2002, she played violin with the Tommy Davidson Band at the Sunset Room in Hollywood. She also played violin on Raphael Saadiq's 2004 album, Ray Ray, as well as Stevie Nicks' 2011 album In Your Dreams.

=== 2000s === DeVitto landed her first acting role in 1999 when she participated in The WB drama series Safe Harbor. In 2000, she appeared in the Nickelodeon comedy series Noah Knows Best. In 2002, she landed a lead role in playwright Lee Blessing's play Eleemosynary, which was performed at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Her performance received praise and positive reviews in the Orlando Sentinel. DeVitto co-starred in the ABC Family drama series Beautiful People as aspiring model Karen Kerr from 2005 to 2006. DeVitto made her film debut in the dramatic short film Starcrossed (2005), which concerns two brothers who develop a sexual attraction to one another. She also appeared in the horror film sequel I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006) as Zoe Warner. She guest-starred on Drake & Josh, Scrubs, Jack & Bobby and had a small part in the romantic drama short film Forbidden Love. She had a lead role as an actress Sierra Young in the comedy film Heber Holiday (2007) and co-starred in the comedy-drama film Green Flash (2008) alongside David Charvet and Kristin Cavallari. DeVitto appeared in the horror comedy film Killer Movie (2008) with then-boyfriend Paul Wesley, Kaley Cuoco and Leighton Meester. From 2008 to 2009, DeVitto had a recurring role in the fifth and sixth seasons of The CW drama series One Tree Hill, where she played nanny Carrie. In 2013, DeVitto told Entertainment Tonight that her role as Carrie garnered strong reactions from the show's viewers and she often gets approached by fans about One Tree Hill.

=== 2010s ===

DeVitto appeared in Will.I.Am's Vote Obama video "We Are The Ones" (2008) and Stevie Nicks' music video for the song "Moonlight" (2011). In 2010, DeVitto began a recurring role as Melissa Hastings in the ABC Family mystery drama series Pretty Little Liars based on Sara Shepard's book series of the same name. In 2017, Samantha Simon of InStyle wrote that "for Torrey DeVitto, playing super-sketchy Melissa Hastings on Pretty Little Liars wasn't exactly a challenge. Because, despite the seemingly endless web of lies surrounding the eldest Hastings sister on the show, it all looks like child's play compared to DeVitto's other unforgettable role as psychotic Nanny Carrie on One Tree Hill." She played Nina in the horror film The Rite (2011) alongside Anthony Hopkins, Alice Braga and Colin O'Donoghue. It received favorable reviews from critics and grossed over $97 million at the worldwide box office. In November 2011, DeVitto was confirmed to have a recurring role in The CW fantasy drama series The Vampire Diaries as Dr. Meredith Fell, who is fascinated by Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis), when she notices how quickly he recovers from an injury. She portrayed Margo in the comedy-drama film Cheesecake Casserole (2012), released on July 3, 2012. In November 2012, it was reported that she had signed on to star as Maggie Hall in the seventh season of the Lifetime drama series Army Wives. Maggie Hall is a mother of two and former soldier who moves to Fort Marshall with her family. On September 24, 2013, Lifetime announced the show's cancellation, it honored the show with a two-hour retrospective special with the cast members which aired in 2014. She had a lead role as Jennie Stanton in the Hallmark Channel television film Best Christmas Party Ever in 2014. In August 2015, DeVitto signed on to star in the NBC medical drama series Chicago Med. She was cast as Dr. Natalie Manning, the ED pediatrician. She has also appeared as Dr. Natalie Manning in Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire. DeVitto's character exited the show after six years in the season 6 finale. "All good things must come to an end. It has been such an honor and pure joy to bring Dr. Natalie Manning to life for all of you on Chicago Med for the past 6 seasons. But it is now time for me and her to bow out and say goodbye," she wrote on Instagram. She portrayed Angie in the psychological thriller The Hoaxing (2018), a short film that she also helped produce. In 2019, she started producing a documentary film, Saving Daisy that follows Daisy Coleman's journey of healing from lifelong trauma and PTSD. She starred in Hallmark Channel's television film Write Before Christmas (2019) alongside Chad Michael Murray. The film centers around Jessica, portrayed by DeVitto, who sends Christmas cards to five people who have impacted her life. The New York Times placed the film on its list of "Five Holiday Movies Worth Bingeing This Season".

=== 2020s === She played Cathy in the thriller film Divertimento (2020) alongside Kellan Lutz and Ola Rapace. The film won numerous awards, including "Best Ensemble" at the Seattle Film Festival in 2021. Shot in an 18th-century French castle, the film follows a chess player haunted by his tragic past, Jonas (Kellan Lutz), who is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, Divertimento. Filmmaker Keyvan Sheikhalishahi wanted to create a film in which the six main characters each represent a chess piece. On August 31, 2021, Deadline announced that DeVitto had joined the cast of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film called The Christmas Promise alongside Dylan Bruce and Patrick Duffy. Production began in early September in Vancouver, Canada. In the film, DeVitto stars as Nicole, a woman dealing with grief with help from her grandfather and a carpenter she hires to help renovate her home. The film premiered on October 30, 2021, and aired again during Hallmark's popular countdown to Christmas. She played organic farmer Sarah in Hallmark Movies & Mysteries romantic time travel film, Rip in Time, which premiered on May 22, 2022.