Actress Suteara Vaughn has recently appeared in the recurring role of Ariel, the outspoken waitress in the hit Showtime series Shameless. She was also featured as a sexy escort opposite Michael Shannon in the upcoming feature Frank & Lola, which is described as a psychosexual noir love story; she was Moriah, the pool party attendee in TNT's Animal Kingdom, and she's a feisty rocker chick in writer/director Ashley Avis's new romantic drama Adolescence. Born in Chicago, and raised in Whittier, California (down the street from Richard Nixon's original home), Vaughn comes from a performing family in Thailand (both her uncle and cousin were local stars). Starting her own acting career at age seven, when she first appeared in school plays, she later continued her interest at St. Bruno's School, where she appeared in a number of stage shows. Before she began her acting career in earnest, Vaughn traveled the world, received her culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, performed and recorded in a rock and roll band, worked as a go go dancer and served as a production assistant in features and television. Breaking into the acting side in a Mariah Carey video, she made her television debut in a number of episodes of the hit HBO comedy series Entourage . She's also proud of her web series Boys Before Friends., where she starred as Chloe James, a clothing boutique owner who serves as the big sister of some college girls dealing with bullying issues. "It's all about empowering women, and standing up for yourself," says Vaughn, who also served as associate producer and casting associate. On the production side, she was assistant producer and music supervisor on Clubbin, a TV documentary series, and she's the assistant producer on both Adolescence and Deserted, another feature written and directed by Ashley Avis. Vaughn's additional film credits include the short films Positive, which tackles the issues surrounding HIV, The Lighter Journey, Kidnapping Terry, The Pro, The Black, and the feature drama Love Sick Diaries.