Viola Lynn Collins (born May 16, 1977) is an American actress. She has made television appearances in True Blood (2008), Manhunt: Unabomber (2017) and The Walking Dead (2021–2022), and is recognized for her roles in films such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and John Carter (2012).

Viola Lynn Collins was born in College Station, Texas,^[1] reported variously in May or June 1977.^[1][2][3] Collins is said to have come from Houston, Texas.^{[citation needed]} She has English, Scottish and Irish ancestry but has also claimed Cherokee ancestry.^[2][4] She spent her formative years in Singapore,^[5] with "summers in Japan where my parents were getting their fourth and fifth and sixth Dan in Shitaru ... Okinawa style karate".^[6] During a childhood Christmas pageant in which she played Mrs. Claus, Collins discovered her love for acting.^{[7][better source needed]}

She attended Singapore American School and Klein High School in Texas.^{[citation needed]} She graduated from the Juilliard School's Drama Division (Group 28: 1995–1999)^[8] with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[1]

Collins made her television debut in 1999, in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and went on to star onstage as Ophelia opposite Liev Schreiber in Hamlet, followed by a turn as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.^{[7][better source needed]} After bit parts that included a stint on the show Haunted and roles in the movies Down with Love, 50 First Dates and 13 Going on 30,^{[7][better source needed]} she gained notice in the film The Merchant of Venice as the female lead Portia, alongside Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons,^{[7][better source needed]} Collins' audition tape for the supporting role of Jessica having so impressed director Michael Radford that—upon Cate Blanchett's opting out as Portia (due to pregnancy)—Radford had championed Collins becoming Blanchett's replacement.^[9][10]

She furthered her profile in 2008 when she was cast as Jason Stackhouse's girlfriend Dawn Green in the first season of the HBO vampire series True Blood, and through a featured role as the hero's love interest Kayla Silverfox in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine opposite Hugh Jackman. Her first leading film role came in 2012 when she was cast as the headstrong Martian princess Dejah Thoris in John Carter.^[11][12]

Collins married Steven Strait on December 23, 2007,^[13] after a four-year relationship.^[5] Collins and Strait separated in 2013.^{[14][citation needed]}

She married Matthew Boyle in November 2014. They divorced in 2016. They have a son.^{[14][citation needed]}

In 2009, she posed nude for the May issue of Allure magazine.^[15]

Collins was raised in a "very, very religious" family of Southern Baptists, and has since explored several religious faiths, describing herself as a "pretty spiritual person."^[2][16]