Jordana Brewster
Jordana Brewster is a Panamanian-born actress and model, best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the "Fast and the Furious" film franchise. Born on April 26, 1980, in Panama City, her family later moved to London and then Rio de Janeiro before settling in New York City. Brewster began her acting career as a teenager, landing a role in the soap opera "As the World Turns," where she played Nikki Munson from 1995 to 2001. She is a Yale University graduate, earning a degree in English in 2004.
Brewster gained widespread recognition with the release of the first "Fast and the Furious" film in 2001, a major box-office success that led to her returning for several sequels, including "Fast Five" and "Furious 7." In addition to her film work, she has appeared in various television series, such as the reboot of "Dallas" and "Lethal Weapon." Brewster is known for advocating for stronger roles for women in television and has been recognized for her contributions to the entertainment industry. She is married to film producer Andrew Form, with whom she has two children.
Subject Terms
Jordana Brewster
Actor
- Born: April 26, 1980
- Birthplace: Panama City, Panama
Contribution: Jordana Brewster is an actor best known for her role in the action film The Fast and the Furious (2001) and its sequels. She also appeared in the television remakes Dallas (2012–14) and Lethal Weapon (2016–18).
Background
Jordana Brewster was born on April 26, 1980, in Panama City, Panama. Her father, Alden Brewster, is an investment banker, and her mother, Maria João, is a former swimsuit model. She has a younger sister named Isabella.
Brewster spent her early childhood in London and moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her mother’s home, when she was six. She spent four years in the city, where she learned to speak fluent Portuguese, before moving to New York City at the age of ten. While there, Brewster originally attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart school. Later, after she began acting, she transferred to the New York Professional Children’s School.
Brewster auditioned for and won her first television role as a teenager, making her debut in a 1995 episode of the soap opera All My Children. The same year, at the age of fifteen, she became a regular on the long-running daytime soap opera As the World Turns, playing Nikki Munson, a runaway and the long-lost daughter of the town of Oakdale’s chief of police. Munson remained a part of the show into 2001 and eventually left Oakdale to attend Yale University. Brewster, whose grandfather Kingman Brewster was once the president of the prestigious university, later attended Yale herself, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2004.
Career
While appearing in As the World Turns, Brewster obtained roles in several films, including the supernatural thriller The Faculty (1998) and an adaptation of the Jennifer Egan novel The Invisible Circus (2001). She also appeared in the NBC television film The ’60s (1999).
In 2001, Brewster took on her most recognizable role to date, playing Mia Toretto in the blockbuster action film The Fast and the Furious. Starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, the film was a box-office hit and introduced Brewster to audiences worldwide. After the success of the film, Brewster took a three-year break from acting to attend Yale.
Having earned her degree, Brewster went on to play the villain in the action comedy D.E.B.S. (2004). She later obtained starring roles in Nearing Grace (2005) and Annapolis (2006). Also in 2006, she appeared in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, a prequel to the classic 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In 2008 and 2009, she guest starred in four episodes of the television series Chuck as the title character’s former girlfriend, Jill Roberts. The following year she made several guest appearanced on the show Dark Blue.
Although Brewster did not appear in the first two sequels to The Fast and the Furious, released in 2003 and 2006, she returned to the role of Mia in 2009’s Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the popular franchise. In 2011 she costarred in the next installment, Fast Five. The film, which elevated the franchise’s formula by adding a heist plot, was a hit with fans and, unlike the previous installments, was well received by critics. The film was likewise a satisfying deviation for Brewster’s Mia, who was given her own action sequences and meatier plotlines. Brewster went on to costar in Fast & Furious 6 in 2013 and Furious 7 in 2015, both of which were well received.
In 2012 Brewster began appearing as Elena Ramos in the TNT continuation of Dallas, a popular primetime soap opera that originally aired from 1978 to 1991. The series starred a number of actors from the original run and focuses on the next generation of the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family. Brewster’s Ramos is a geologist and the daughter of the Ewing family’s cook. The show came to an end in 2014.
Brewster went on to play supporting roles in the thriller American Heist (2014) and dark comedy Home Sweet Hell (2015), both of which were critically panned. Despite that, she then landed the recurring parts of Denise Brown on the FOX television show American Crime Story and Kate Warner on Secrets and Lies, both in 2016. That same year she was cast as therapist Maureen Cahill in the Lethal Weapon television series, which was based on the film franchise of the same name and aired for three seasons from 2016 to 2018.
Around that time Brewster returned to film, with a supporting role in the independent film Bailey and Darla (2019). Despite the character of Mia having been written out of the eighth Fast and the Furious movie, she also returned for the ninth installment, Fast 9, which was filmed in 2019.
Impact
Brewster has noted that she specifically looks for television roles because she feels that the medium offers better roles for women. She has nonetheless taken on numerous substantial film roles and has contributed significantly to the evolution of the blockbuster Fast and the Furious franchise.
Personal Life
Brewster married film producer Andrew Form, whom she met on the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, in 2007. They live in Los Angeles with their two children, Julian and Rowan.
Principal Works
Film
The Faculty, 1998
The Fast and the Furious, 2001
D.E.B.S., 2004
Nearing Grace, 2005
Annapolis, 2006
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2006
Fast & Furious, 2009
Fast Five, 2011
Fast & Furious 6, 2013
Furious 7, 2015
Television
As the World Turns, 1995–2001
The ’60s, 1999
Dallas, 2012–14
Lethal Weapon, 2016–18
Bibliography
Brewster, Jordana. “Dallas Star Jordana Brewster Breaks Down Her Brazilian Roots.” Interview by Lee Hernandez. Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 June 2012. Web.30 Aug. 2013.
Brewster, Jordana. “Interview: Jordana Brewster Talks Fast Five, Finally Becoming an Action Heroine, and On-Set Injuries.” Interview by Matt Barone. Complex. Complex Media, 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Brewster, Jordana. “Jordana Brewster Talks Dallas and Preparing to Shoot Fast & Furious 6 in the UK.” Interview by Christina Radish. Collider. Collider.com, June 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Connor, Katie L. “Jordana Brewster: The Natural.” Marie Claire. Hearst Communication, 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.
Dicker, Ron. “Hollywood & Ivy.” Hartford Courant. Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2009. Web. 30 Aug. 2013.