Monique Coleman

Adrienne Monique Coleman (born November 13, 1980) is an American actress and dancer.

She is best known for her role as Taylor McKessie in the High School Musical movies.

Adrienne Monique Coleman was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

She started her acting career in theater and television at a young age in Columbia, South Carolina.

She trained at the Workshop Theater School of Dramatic Arts where she performed in over fifteen plays.

Coleman went to Heathwood Hall Episcopal School.

Coleman's first lead role was in the independent film Mother of the River (1995) directed by Zeinabu irene Davis. Two years later, Coleman appeared as Young Donna in The Family Channel movie The Ditchdigger's Daughter, for which she was nominated for a Young Artists Award of Hollywood.

During her sophomore year of high school, Coleman wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a one-person play titled "Voices from Within."

In Chicago, Coleman appeared in stage productions of Noises Off, Polaroid Stories, The Real Thing, and The Colored Museum.

She later attended The Theater School at DePaul University in Chicago, earning her BFA in Acting in 2002.

In 2005, Coleman acted alongside James Earl Jones in the Hallmark TV Movie The Reading Room.

She received a 2006 CAMIE Award for the role and represented the film at the NAACP Image Awards.

Coleman has had several other guest appearances on television, including Boston Public, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Strong Medicine, 10-8: Officers on Duty, Married to the Kellys, and Veronica Mars.

In 2006, Coleman starred in High School Musical, portraying Taylor McKessie, the best friend of the new girl at school, Gabriella Montez (played by Vanessa Hudgens).

She had previously worked on the Disney Channel as a recurring guest star in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

In the summer of 2006, Coleman took part in the first Disney Channel Games.

Coleman competed in the Fall 2006 third edition of the reality dance competition show Dancing with the Stars.

She was paired with professional partner Louis Van Amstel.

The pair appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show before they were eliminated from the competition on November 1, 2006.

Coleman and van Amstel finished fourth in the competition.

She was the final female contestant in that season's competition.

She was also the host of 3 Minute Game Show: High School Musical Edition, which aired on the Disney Channel in 2007.

That year, Coleman recorded a song called "Christmas Vacation" for the compilation album Disney Channel Holiday.

She later appeared in High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), reprising her role as Taylor McKessie.

In 2010, Coleman worked with DoSomething.org to produce a video tutorial for the series "Do Something U."

Coleman's video focused on teaching young people the best way to utilize social media to spread ideas and actions.

Coleman was appointed a Youth Champion by the United Nations in November 2010.

At a ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, Coleman was presented with a letter of recognition of her role by Assistant Secretary-General Jomo Kwame Sundaram of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In presenting the letter, Mr. Sundaram said Coleman would work "to raise awareness about the challenges young people face and will highlight the positive contribution they make to their communities."

Coleman said receiving the designation of Youth Champion was "beyond an honor" and she would use her position to promote global efforts to achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In February 2012, Coleman married Walter Jordan.

The pair divorced in February 2022.