April 13th, 2012

Next week, ladies everywhere will be lining up for the latest Zac Efron flick, The Lucky One. The movie, which is based on yet another Nicholas Sparks romance novel, follows the story of a Marine who returns home from Iraq in search of a North Caroline woman who appears in a picture he kept as a lucky charm during his three tours of service. That woman is played by none other than Boston’s own Taylor Schilling.

The 27 year-old Schilling grew up in both West Roxbury and Wayland, Massachusetts, splitting her time between divorced parents. Though her acting resume is rather short, her only other notable role being on the short-lived NBC series, “Mercy” from 2009-2010, Schilling’s talents have been recognized from an early age. Her first foray into theater came in middle school, and she interned for the popular Boston television news magazine, “Chronicle”, on WCVB, in high school. Though she attended both Fordham and New York University, she received the Emerson College Playwright’s Festival Outstanding Performance Award.

While currently a New York resident, Schilling’s Beantown roots still run deep, she’s still a big Boston Red Sox fan. Her next film, The Silver Linings Playbook, which is set to be released later this year, costars Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Julia Stiles, and Hunger Games star, Jennifer Lawrence. It’s director, David O. Russell, also directed Dorchester native Mark Wahlberg in 2010′s The Fighter.

The Lucky One comes to theaters nationwide on April 20^th and also costars Blythe Danner.