Jordana Brewster is a Brazilian-American actress. She began her acting career in her late teens,
with a 1995 episode of the soap opera All My Children. 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 as Delilah Profitt, one of the main characters 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. 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 and starred in the 2009 film Fast & Furious, the fourth installment of the The Fast and
the Furious film series. After guest roles in several television shows such as Dark Blue
and Gigantic, she appeared in the fifth film in the franchise, 2011's Fast Five. She stars
as Elena Ramos in the television series Dallas, and appeared in the 2013 film Fast & Furious
6.
Early life Brewster was born in Panama City, Panama.
Her mother, Maria João, 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, diplomat, and president
of Yale University. Brewster 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. She graduated from Yale University in New Haven,
Connecticut with a B.A. in English. Career
Early career 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 2001. For her performance in the show,
she was nominated for "Outstanding Teen Performer" at the 1997 Soap Opera Digest Awards.
Her first film role was in Robert Rodriguez's 1998 horror science fiction film, The Faculty.
In the film, Brewster played the character of Delilah Profitt, a popular and vindictive
girl who is the editor in chief of the student paper. The film received several favorable
reviews and was a major success at the box office, grossing over $40 million domestically.
Later, she was cast alongside Julia Stiles and Jerry O'Connell in a NBC television miniseries
entitled The 60's, in which she appeared as Sarah Weinstock, a college student and radical
activist. The miniseries premiered on February 7, 1999, in the United States and was nominated
for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Breakthrough
In 2001, she starred with Cameron Diaz and Christopher Eccleston in The Invisible Circus,
a drama feature based on Jennifer Egan's best-selling novel. The film was not well received by critics.
Brewster had her breakthrough role when she starred opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker
in the car-themed action film The Fast and the Furious, which was a box office hit and
received critical acclaim. 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." In 2004, she played one of the main characters in the action comedy
D.E.B.S., as Lucy Diamond, a lesbian criminal mastermind. She was cast in the 2005 independent
teen drama film set in late 1970s, Nearing Grace. The film is based on the novel by Scott
Sommer. In 2006, Brewster co-starred in the drama
film Annapolis. The film is about a young man who dreams of one day attending the United
States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. That same year, she appeared in the horror
film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which was released theatrically in October.
In the film, she had the starring role of Chrissie. The Beginning was not well received
by critics, however, grossed over $51 million worldwide, becoming a modest hit. For her
performance, Brewster was nominated for both "Choice Movie Actress: Horror" and "Choice
Movie: Scream" at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards. Brewster appeared in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!,
but her scenes were deleted. Brewster portrayed the role of Mrs. Smith,
the role depicted in the film by Angelina Jolie, in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a spin-off pilot
to the 2005 film of the same name which was made for the ABC network. 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. She has appeared
in four episodes of the show between 2008 and 2009.
Recent work Brewster reprised 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 had a big financial 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 co-starred in the fifth film of the
The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast Five. The film was released on April 29, 2011. The
film told the story of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel's characters fighting against federal
agents and a corrupt businessman. Filming of the movie began on June 28, 2010 in Rio
de Janeiro and finished in October of that year. Fast Five opened to favorable reviews
and has been 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. Since 2012, Brewster has starred as Elena
Ramos on the TNT revival of the prime-time drama series Dallas.
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 Fast and Furious, a photographic spread of Brewster in a range of black lingerie in
the May 2009 edition of Maxim aroused much interest. The latter shoot followed a striking
scene in Chuck in which, as Dr Roberts, she had stripped down to her black brassiere to
seduce the title character. 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 Maxims Hot 100. Personal life
Brewster lives in Los Angeles with her husband, film producer Andrew Form, whom she met on
the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which Form produced. They announced
their engagement on November 4, 2006. They married in a private ceremony in the Bahamas
on May 6, 2007. On September 21, 2013, they welcomed their son, Julian, via surrogate.
In 2014, her sister, Isabella Brewster, married NBA player Baron Davis.
In an interview, she ranked Gossip Girl, The Office, and House as her favorite television
shows. Filmography
Awards and nominations References
External links Jordana Brewster at the Internet Movie Database
Jordana Brewster on Twitter Jordana Brewster at AllMovie
Jordana Brewster talks Fast & Furious with Michelle Rodriguez