Jordana Brewster Biography

Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in her late teens, in an episode of the soap opera All My Children in 1995. She followed that appearance with the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, for which Brewster was nominated for Outstanding Teen Performer at the 1997 Soap Opera Digest Award. She was later cast in her first feature film, Robert Rodriguez's 1998 horror science fiction, The Faculty. She also landed a starring role in a 1999 NBC television miniseries entitled The '60s.

Her breakthrough role came in the 2001 action film The Fast and the Furious as Mia Toretto. She reprised the role in its sequels, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, and Furious 7. Other film credits include the 2004 action comedy film D.E.B.S., the 2005 independent drama Nearing Grace and the 2006 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, for which she received two Teen Choice Award nominations. She had a recurring role in the NBC television series Chuck. After guest roles in several television shows such as Dark Blue and Gigantic, Brewster starred as Elena Ramos in the television series Dallas between 2012 and 2014. She currently stars as Dr. Maureen Cahill on the Fox buddy cop action dramedy series Lethal Weapon, and as Kate Warner on the second season of the ABC anthology crime drama series Secrets and Lies.

Early life

Brewster was born in Panama City, Panama. Her mother, Maria Joo (ne Leal de Sousa), is a former swimsuit model from Brazil who appeared on the 1978 cover of Sports Illustrated, and her father, Alden Brewster, is an American investment banker. Her paternal grandfather, Kingman Brewster, Jr., was an educator, president of Yale University (1963-77), and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1977-81). Brewster is a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers William Brewster and Edward Doty. She left Panama when she was two months old, relocating to London, where she would spend six years, before moving to her mother's native city of Rio de Janeiro, where she learned to speak Portuguese fluently. She left Brazil at the age of 10, settling in Manhattan, New York City, where she studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and graduated from the Professional Children's School. Brewster graduated from Yale University with a B. A. in English in 2003.

Career

Early career (1995-2000)

Brewster made her debut in daytime soap operas, with a one-time appearance on All My Children as Anita Santos, followed by a recurring role on As the World Turns as Nikki Munson from 1995 to 1998. For her performance in the show, she was nominated for "Outstanding Teen Performer" at the 1997 Soap Opera Digest Awards.

Brewster's film debut was in Robert Rodriguez's 1998 horror science fiction film, The Faculty. In the film, she played a popular vindictive cheerleading captain/ editor in chief of the student paper. Later, she was cast alongside Julia Stiles and Jerry O'Connell in a NBC television miniseries entitled The '60s, in which she appeared as a student activist.

Breakthrough (2001-08)

Brewster had her breakthrough role when she starred as Mia Toretto opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in the car-themed action film The Fast and the Furious, which was a box office hit (with an over $207 million worldwide gross). Todd McCarthy of Variety.com stated that Brewster "is looking good and doing a better job here than she did as a searching teen in the recent The Invisible Circus." After this film, she took a break from acting to complete her B. A. in English at Yale from which she graduated in 2003. The following year, she returned to acting by playing as a lesbian criminal mastermind in the action comedy D.E.B.S. (2004). She also appeared in the 2005 independent teen drama film set in late 1970s, Nearing Grace.

In 2006, Brewster co-starred in the drama film Annapolis. Later that year, she appeared in the horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. For her performance, Brewster was nominated for both "Choice Movie Actress: Horror/Thriller" and "Choice Movie: Scream" at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards.

Brewster portrayed the role of Mrs. Smith in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a spin-off pilot to the 2005 film of the same name which was made for ABC. However, ABC decided not to commission the series. She also joined the cast of the NBC television series Chuck, as a recurring character, Jill Roberts, Chuck's ex-girlfriend from Stanford appearing in four episodes of the show between 2008 and 2009.

Recent work (2009-present)

Brewster returned to the role of Mia Toretto in the fourth film of the The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast & Furious, which opened on April 3, 2009. The film was a commercial success, with an over $353 million worldwide gross. In an interview with AskMen.com, Brewster explained her character: "In the first one I"?m more of a wallflower and it's much more of a girlfriend-type role, but in [the new movie] I"?m more of a woman. She"?s far more tough. I deal with the repercussions of living in my brother"?s world."

In 2010, Brewster had multiple guest appearances in the television series Dark Blue, in which she played Maria, an art gallery dealer who flirts with Dean. She also guest appeared in the Gigantic episodes "Pilot: Part 1" and "Pilot: Part 2".

Brewster appeared in the fifth film of the The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast Five (2011). The film was a financial success, breaking box office records to become the highest grossing opening weekend in an April and the second highest opening weekend in Spring, earning $168 million. Brewster has starred as Elena Ramos on the TNT revival of the prime-time drama series Dallas (2012-2014). She also reprised her role as Mia Toretto in the sequels Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Furious 7 (2015).

In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting; in the video, Brewster and others told the stories of the people killed there.

In 2016, she was cast in Lethal Weapon as Dr. Maureen Cahill, and also stars in the second season of Secrets and Lies as Kate Warner.

In the media

In 2002, Stuff magazine named her the 96th hottest woman in their "102 Sexiest Women in the World". In 2005 Maxim magazine named her the 54th sexiest woman in the world in their annual Hot 100. In 2006, Maxim ranked her at No.59 on their Hot 100. In 2009, she ranked No.9 on Maxim's Hot 100 and, to coincide with the release of Fast and Furious, a photographic spread of Brewster in a range of black lingerie in the May 2009 edition of Maxim ("Life in the Fast Lane"). Brewster was placed 8th on afterellen.com's "100 Hottest Women" list in 2007, and placed 22nd in 2008. In 2011, Maxim Magazine placed Brewster at spot 11 in their Hot 100. In 2013, she did a photoshoot for GQ Mxico.

Personal life

Brewster lives in Los Angeles with her husband, producer Andrew Form, whom she met on the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, in which Brewster acted. They announced their engagement on November 4, 2006. They married in a private ceremony in the Bahamas on May 6, 2007. On September 10, 2013, their first child, Julian, was born via a gestational surrogate. On June 9, 2016, their second son, Rowan was born via a gestational surrogate.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The Faculty	Delilah Profitt
2001	The Invisible Circus	Phoebe
2001	The Fast and the Furious	Mia Toretto
2004	D.E.B.S.	Lucy Diamond
2005	Nearing Grace	Grace Chance
2006	Annapolis	Ali Halloway
2006	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning	Chrissie
2009	Fast & Furious	Mia Toretto
2011	Fast Five
2013	Fast & Furious 6
2014	Home Sweet Hell	Dusty	Direct to video
2014	American Heist	Emily	Direct to video
2015	Furious 7	Mia Toretto

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	All My Children	Anita Santos	1 episode
1995-1998	As the World Turns	Nikki Munson	114 episodes
1999	The '60s	Sarah Weinstock	Television film
2007	Mr. and Mrs. Smith	Jane Smith	Unaired pilot
2008-2009	Chuck	Jill Roberts	4 episodes
2010	Dark Blue	Maria	3 episodes
2010	Gigantic	Celebrity	2 episodes
2012-2014	Dallas	Elena Ramos	40 episodes
2016	American Crime Story	Denise Brown	5 episodes
2016-present	Lethal Weapon	Dr. Maureen Cahill	Main role
2016	Secrets and Lies	Kate Warner	10 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Recipient	Outcome
1997	Soap Opera Digest Awards	Outstanding Teen Performer	As the World Turns
2007	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Horror	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
2007		Choice Movie: Scream
2009	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Action	Fast & Furious
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Action	Fast Five
2012	ALMA Awards	Favorite TV Actress	Dallas
2013	NAACP Image Awards	Best Supporting Actress in Television
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Action	Furious 7
2017	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Actress in a New TV Series	Lethal Weapon