If you were surprised by how in-character the special education teacher Vanessa was for her '80s bride photo shoot on The Bachelor, knowing that Vanessa from The Bachelor is an actress helps explain. Vanessa Grimaldi is gorgeous and articulate, so I guess it isn't too surprising that she tried her hand at acting for years before being a teacher. So, where can you watch Vanessa's acting? Let's just say, you need to get on Netflix stat.
Even though there have only been two episodes of The Bachelor so far, she is definitely a favorite of mine to win over Nick as Vanessa seems to be one of the most mature and levelheaded contestants on this season. Of course, knowing that Vanessa was an actress before could be a sign that she's not on The Bachelor for the "right reasons" and is only pursing Nick for fame. While it's slightly suspicious that her acting career hasn't come up yet with The Bachelor focusing on her being a teacher, Vanessa's IMDb page isn't that robust, so I'm willing to believe that acting isn't the number one priority in her life. That also helps me think that her reason for being on the show is pretty genuine. Plus, I can't blame a girl for being on a few TV shows before The Bachelor.
As for how you can watch Vanessa act, Netflix and YouTube have made finding her roles super easy. According to IMDb, she has only been in three shows where she portrayed a character. The first was in Spike's Blue Mountain State where she appeared in Season 2, Episode 5 "Pregnant" for a brief scene. The guys in this college comedy are trying to figure out who left them a voicemail saying she was pregnant. Vanessa's unnamed character recently "boned" main character Thad Castle, so he approaches her to see if she's the pregnant one. The episode is available to stream on Netflix.
While she had a few lines in Blue Mountain State, her next role was pretty much a silent one except for a scream. She was on the U.S. version of the TV show Being Human on Syfy. The series, which was a remake of the British show of the same name, followed a vampire, werewolf, and ghost and so Vanessa was a human who voluntarily chose to be fed on by vampires during Season 1, Episode 11 "Going Dutch." As Lola, she was the main woman to be featured in this scene and acted alongside Mark Pellegrino (Jacob from Lost and Lucifer from Supernatural). You can watch her episode of Being Human on Netflix.
The last role that her IMDb page lists is in the miniseries Ascension, which aired on Syfy in the U.S. and on CBC in Vanessa's homeland of Canada. The six-episode series takes place on a spaceship and Vanessa is credited as "New Stewardess." Many attractive women act as the flight attendants, but I was unable to spot Vanessa in either part one or part two of "Chapter One" (the episode IMDb claims she is in). However, the miniseries is available on Netflix if you want to try to find Vanessa. I'm thinking she could be the woman putting up the sign in the background in the below photo since the camera never focused on her face.
Besides Netflix, you can also purchase the DVDs of all three TV shows that Vanessa has been featured in on Amazon, but the streaming site having Blue Mountain State, Being Human, and Ascension is pretty much a Bachelor miracle.
Along with these small roles, Vanessa has had other time in front of a camera since she took on some hosting duties in the past. She was the host of the Canadian reality competition show Can Your School Rock and went by the name Vanessa G.
She was also the cohost of the Gameloft video podcast (available on YouTube), where she talked video games and had some fun with skits. Chris Harrison better watch his back.
If you're a fan of Vanessa like I am, then the internet has clearly been a blessing when it comes to Vanessa's time on TV before The Bachelor. And who knows? Maybe her relationship with Nick will last longer than her brief acting career did.
