Lily Jane Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, to a talented family. Her father, Phil Collins, is a renowned English musician, while her mother, Jill Tavelman, is a remarkable individual from Los Angeles, California, who has held the esteemed position of president of the Beverly Hills Women's Club for three terms. The family's dynamics took a turn when Lily's parents decided to part ways, and at the age of five, she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother. This significant move exposed Lily to a diverse cultural heritage, as she is of Russian Jewish, English, and German descent.
Lily's early foray into the world of entertainment began at the tender age of two, when she landed her first screen role in the BBC series Growing Pains in 1992. As a child, she was an active participant in the Youth Academy for Dramatic Arts, where she honed her acting skills. However, her true passion lay in journalism. Lily's academic journey took her to the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, where she graduated with flying colors. She then attended the University of Southern California (USC),majoring in broadcast journalism. During her teenage years, Lily's writing skills were put to the test as she wrote a column for the British magazine Elle Girl and contributed to several prominent publications, including Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and the Los Angeles Times.
As Lily transitioned from writing to acting, she made her television debut as a presenter and reporter, covering high-profile events like the 2008 US Presidential campaign on the Nickelodeon show Kids Pick the President. Her early television appearances were followed by a couple of guest roles on the popular series 90210 in 2009. Lily's breakthrough performance came when she co-starred alongside Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock in the massive box office hit The Blind Side in 2009. Her subsequent roles in more dramatic films, including Mirror Mirror (2012),The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013),and Love, Rosie (2014),catapulted her to international recognition.