Chyler Leigh Biography

Chyler Leigh West (pronounced ; ne Potts; born April 10, 1982), known professionally as Chyler Leigh, is an American actress, singer and model, best known for her portrayals of Janey Briggs in Not Another Teen Movie and Dr. Alexandra "Lexie" Grey in the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. In October 2015, she began starring, in a lead role, in the CBS/CW show Supergirl as Alexandra "Alex" Danvers.

Early life

Leigh was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is the daughter of Yvonne Norton and Robert Potts. Leigh was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where her parents ran a weight-loss business. However, when Leigh was eight, the business went bankrupt and at the age of twelve, following the break-up of her parents' marriage, Leigh moved with her mother and brother, future Power Rangers In Space actor Christopher Khayman Lee, to Miami where her mother remarried her first husband. Following her parents' divorce, Leigh was estranged from her father for many years, but they have since reconciled.

While in eighth grade, she started modelling. She soon began acting by appearing in local television commercials and a syndicated teen news show called Hall Pass. In 1999, Leigh and her mother relocated to Los Angeles in order for Leigh to develop a career in acting. At age 16, Leigh took and passed the California High School Proficiency Exam.

Drug addiction and recovery

At age 16, Leigh met her future husband, 20-year-old Nathan West, when they both attended auditions for the pilot of an unsuccessful WB series titled Saving Graces. They began a relationship, and Leigh left home to move in with West. Leigh described them as being "broken", both having had troubled family lives and difficult upbringings. This led to abuse of drugs such as cocaine, which quickly escalated into addiction. The catalysts for change eventually came in 2001, when Leigh, in the throes of addiction and barely eating, was told by the director of Not Another Teen Movie that she looked unhealthily thin. Around that time, she and West also attended a Christian church service, at the invitation of a friend, which helped them break free of their addiction. Clean and sober in 2002, they were wed in Alaska surrounded by their closest family and friends.

Career

Leigh started acting at an early age and debuted in the film world at age 15 in 1997's Kickboxing Academy. She started hosting in local TV shows and modeling; in 2001, Leigh nabbed the lead role in the box-office success Not Another Teen Movie as Janey Briggs. She also appeared in Marilyn Manson's music video "Tainted Love", a song which appeared in the film. She was ranked #65 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. In 2002, Leigh was cast in two short-lived TV series: Girls Club, in which she played lawyer Sarah Mickle, and That '80s Show, in which she played punk rocker June Tuesday. She then became a series regular on the ABC legal drama The Practice, but was let go at the end of the season due to budget cuts. Following that, she joined the cast of Reunion in September, 2005.

In ABC's Grey's Anatomy, Leigh first appeared as a woman in Joe's bar who was noticed by Derek Shepherd while in the third-season finale, it was revealed that she was Lexie Grey. She was made an official series regular for season four, and remained so until the eighth-season finale.

Chyler Leigh also makes music with her husband Nathan West (East of Eli), under the name "WestLeigh". They have performed covers and originals songs. In 2015, for their thirteenth anniversary they wrote "Love Lit The Sky". On Saint Valentine's Day 2017 they released a single "Nowhere" and then she take part in tours.

On June 18, 2017 was released a single "Spirit of Samba" of Laurent Voulzy feat. Chyler Leigh, Nina Miranda, Luisa Maita and Eloisia; in France has reached its maximum with the 99^th position of the Syndicat National de l'dition Phonographique (SNEP).

In October, 2015, she began starring, in a lead role, in the CBS/CW show Supergirl as Alexandra "Alex" Danvers, who is the sister of Supergirl.

Personal life

On July 20, 2002, Leigh married fellow actor Nathan West in Alaska. The couple worked together in 2000 on the television series 7th Heaven, playing Mary Camden's (Jessica Biel) troubled friends Frankie and Johnnie. Leigh and West have three children - a son and two daughters: Noah Wilde (born December 2003), Taelyn Leigh (born September 2006), and Anniston Kae (born May 7, 2009).

Leigh has said that she and her husband have a pact in which the person who guesses the baby's sex correctly gets to choose the name. When pregnant with Noah, she guessed she was having a boy so she chose the first name and Nathan gave him his middle name. For Taelyn, Nathan correctly guessed it was a girl, so he named her. Their third child, also a girl, was guessed correctly by West; he chose the name Anniston Kae.

Leigh is a Christian and credits her faith and a "really awesome church" with giving her and her husband "a reason to live". She also supports The Thirst Project, a non-profit organization in America which aims to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world.

Chyler Leigh and her family live in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Hall Pass	Co-Host
1997	Kinetic City Super Crew	Unknown
1997	Kickboxing Academy	Cindy
1999	Saving Grace	Grace Smith
1999	Safe Harbor	Jamie Martin	Main cast, 10 episodes
2000	M.Y.O.B.	unknown	1 episode
2000	7th Heaven	Frankie	3 episodes
2000	Wilder Days	Rip
2001	Not Another Teen Movie	Janey Briggs
2002	That '80s Show	June Tuesday	13 episodes
2002	Girls Club	Sarah Mickle	9 episodes
2003	The Practice	Claire Wyatt
2004	North Shore	Kate Spangler	1 episode
2005	Rocky Point	Cassie
2005	Reunion	Carla	Main cast, 13 episodes, 2005-2006
2007-2012	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Lexie Grey	Guest (Season 3) Main cast (Season 4-8): 112 episodes
2010	The 19th Wife	Queenie Alton
2012	Private Practice	Dr. Lexie Grey	1 episode
2012	Brake	Molly Reins
2013	Window Wonderland	Sloan Van Doren	TV Movie
2014	Taxi Brooklyn	Detective Caitlyn 'Cat' Sullivan	12 episodes
2015-present	Supergirl	Alexandra "Alex" Danvers	Main cast
2017	Arrow	Alexandra "Alex" Danvers	"Crisis on Earth-X"
2017	The Flash	Alexandra "Alex" Danvers	"Crisis on Earth-X"
2017	Legends of Tomorrow	Alexandra "Alex" Danvers	"Crisis on Earth-X"

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Ref
2001	"Tainted Love"	Marilyn Manson

Soundtrack performances

Year	Song(s)	Other notes
2008	"Like a Virgin"	Medical drama Grey's Anatomy - season 4, episode 14 - "The Becoming"
2011	"Breathe (2 AM)"	Medical drama Grey's Anatomy - season 7, episode 18 - "Song Beneath the Song" Soundtrack album Grey's Anatomy: The Music Event
	"Wait"
	"Running on Sunshine"
	"Grace"
	"How to Save a Life"

Music performances

Year	Song(s)	Other notes
2015	"Love Lit The Sky"	With Nathan West (East of Eli)
2017	"Nowhere"
	"Spirit of Samba"	Laurent Voulzy feat. Chyler Leigh, Nina Miranda, Luisa Maita and Eloisia

Producer

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
2012	Brake	Co-producer

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2000	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series - Young Ensemble	Safe Harbor (shared with cast)
2002	Young Hollywood Awards	Exciting New Face-Female	Herself
2008	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy (shared with cast)