Nina Dobrev

Updated Tue. Sep. 1 2009 11:05 AM ET

as Mia Jones

Nina Dobrev joined Degrassi: The Next Generation in its sixth season as Mia Jones. 

Prior to Degrassi, Nina's film and television credits include roles in Fugitive Pieces, Away from Her, Four Walls and Playing House. 

The teen actress is fluent in French and Bulgarian and competed in gymnastics on the international level. Nina's film, Fugitive Pieces (directed by Jeremy Podeswa), was the opening gala for the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Nina's red carpet gala debut at TIFF landed her the cover of the Toronto Sun and Canada's largest newspaper, The Globe and Mail.

Last year, Nina traveled to Africa with five Degrassi cast to build a school in Kenya with the renowned organization "Free The Children". A documentary of Nina and her cast mates' trip aired on MTV in Canada in the fall of 2007.

During her recent hiatus from Degrassi, she shot MTV's The American Mall, a film by the producers of High School Musical which premiered in August in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Nina also made a special appearance on MTV's TRL to promote her film. When not on set she loves all beach sports, including swimming, windsurfing and scuba diving.

Her character: Mia Jones

Mia's only 16, but she knows exactly where her strengths are.

She's a kick-ass athlete who's also really smart, and she'd have to be -- Mia's been balancing a whole lot: school, cheerleading, and her 2 year old daughter -- for a long time.

Nobody really understands how she does it and some people think she shouldn't do so much -- but Mia doesn't care.

She knows the difference between right and wrong and she's not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. As long as she does what's right for her and fits in all the different aspects of her life -- she's thrilled.