A relative newcomer in the entertainment business, model and actress Shantel VanSanten is probably most known as one of the 12 participants in NBC’s 2005 reality show, Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Model Search. Shantel, a Texas native, attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas while starting out her career as a model for the Page Parkes Management in Dallas, Texas. Among the actors who previously booked modeling gigs with Page Parkes are Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Hilary Duff, Josh Holloway, and Woody Harrelson.

Shantel began modeling when she was 15 years old, appearing in various catalogs, magazines, and billboards for several products and companies, both locally and nationwide. She then attended the Agent Review, where acting agents from around the world attend and scout for new talents. It was there that she got her first exposure to the acting world. While attending college in Dallas, she enrolled in acting courses, performed in stage productions, and realized that acting was her true passion and calling. With the help of Page Parkes, VanSanten was able to audition for film roles and pilots in Los Angeles while continuing her work as a model.

Her inclusion as one of the finalists in the televised Sports Illustrated model search became her stepping stone onto the realm of film and television. Although she got eliminated early in the competition, opportunities opened up for Shantel as she since appeared in a handful of film and TV movie projects including Spellbound (2007), In My Pocket (2009) with Everwood’s Gregory Smith, and a guest role in CSI: New York (2009). In 2008, she was featured in a lead role as Janie Sawyer opposite Mischa Barton in the controversial film You And I, a fictionalized version of real events from the book t.A.T.u Come Back. The following year, she was tapped to play Haley James Scott’s (Bethany Joy Galeotti) sister Quinn in the 7th season of the CW drama One Tree Hill.