Long before she scored the leading role in this summer's The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Lily Collins lived a relatively normal life — despite being the daughter of rock legend Phil Collins. Covering the September issue of Seventeen, the 24-year-old actress explains why she made a conscious decision to stay out of trouble in high school.
"I didn't feel the pleasure in drinking or doing drugs," says the star, whose previous films include Mirror Mirror, Abduction and The Blind Side. "I wanted to remember the fun moments that I had with my friends and not wake up and go, 'Um, I think I had fun?'"
Collins has continued to go the good-girl route, both personally and professional. Still, the up-and-coming actress — who once dated Taylor Lautner and Zac Efron — tells the magazine she's maturing in other ways.
"I've definitely edged-up my style a little but not for any reason other than I'm experimenting with myself," says Collins, who is dating British actor Jamie Campbell Bower. "I always wanted tattoos, so this past November, I got two. I got my back done first. It's my handwriting and it says, 'Love always and forever.'"
Collins is poised to become a megastar following the Aug. 21 release of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and luckily, she can look to Twilight's Kristen Stewart and The Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence for guidance. "I admire how they've both handled the fame that came with those roles and their ability to step outside those roles and do other projects," she tells Seventeen. "That's what I want to do balance fun big movies with gritty passion projects I love."
