Leah Lewis Explained

Leah Lewis should not be confused with Lia Lewis.

Leah Lewis
Birth Date:9 December 1996
Birth Place:Shanghai, China
Nationality:American
Occupation:Actress
Years Active:2005–present

Leah Lewis (born December 9, 1996[1] [2] [3] [4]) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Georgia "George" Fan in The CW series adaptation of Nancy Drew (2019–2023) and Ellie Chu in the Netflix comedy-drama film The Half of It (2020). She also has starred in her voice lead role as Ember Lumen in the Pixar animated film Elemental (2023).

Early life and education

Lewis was adopted from an orphanage in Shanghai when she was eight months old and raised in Windermere, Florida.[5] Her younger, non-biologically related sister, Lydia, was later adopted from the same orphanage. Their parents, Frederick and Lorraine Lewis, are both realtors.[6]

Leah discovered performing arts at Crenshaw School in Orlando, Florida. She attended Thornebrooke Elementary School in Ocoee, Florida and Southwest Middle School in Orlando. She and her mother moved back and forth between Los Angeles and Orlando during her teen years. At 17, she went back to Orlando to finish high school at Olympia High School and then moved back to Los Angeles by herself at 20.[7]

Career

At a young age, Lewis started acting in commercials. Once her family moved to Los Angeles, she acted in the 2012 Nickelodeon film, as the character Spoon.

In 2013, she auditioned for the fourth season of The Voice, singing "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood. None of the coaches turned their chairs, meaning that she did not make it onto the show.[8]

In 2015 and 2016, she was featured in the Disney shows Best Friends Whenever and Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything. She also was a main character on season 2 of the Michelle Trachtenberg-produced Go90 web series, Guidance.[9] Once she moved back to Los Angeles after graduating from high school, she began booking roles in TV shows like Station 19 and The Good Doctor. She had a recurring role in The CW series Charmed. She then later joined the main cast of another The CW show, a 2019 TV adaptation of Nancy Drew on which she plays Georgia "George" Fan, based on the original character George Fayne.

Her first major film role was as the lead character, Ellie Chu, in the 2020 Netflix film, The Half of It.[10] [11] She starred alongside Mamoudou Athie in the 2023 Pixar animated film Elemental directed by Peter Sohn, which she voiced the character Ember Lumen in her main role of the film.[12] [13] [14] [15] In 2024, she joined the cast of Paramount animated film The Tiger's Apprentice, where she voiced Räv.[16] [17]

Personal life

Beyond acting, Lewis sings, plays guitar, and does photography.[18] [19] In May 2016, she began dating singer and actor Payson Lewis.[20] [21] The couple coincidentally share the same last name.[22] [23]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007 Nanking Banner Girl
2020 The Half of It Ellie Chu
How to Deter a Robber Heather Williams
2023 Elemental Ember Lumen (voice)
2024 The Tiger's Apprentice Räv (voice)

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006 The New Adventures of Old Christine Tess Episode: "The Passion of the Christine"
Paloozaville Leah
2012 Spoon Television film
Madison High Peyton Hall Pilot
2013 The Voice Herself - Contestant Blind Auditions
2015–2016 Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything Lika 2 episodes
2016 Best Friends Whenever Alex Episode: "Girl Code" 
2018 Light as a Feather Gabby Darwish Episode: "Innocent as a Lamb" 
The Good Doctor Katherine "Kitty" Kwon Episode: "Tough Titmouse"
Charmed Angela Wu 3 episodes
2018–2019 Station 19 Shannon 2 episodes
2019 The Gifted Young Clarice Episode: "home"
2019–2023 Nancy Drew Main role
2021 It's Pony Max (voice) 2 episodes
2022–present Batwheels Cassandra Cain / Batgirl (voice) Main role
2024 Matlock Sarah[24] Main role

Web

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016 Sing It! Sophie Chu Recurring role; 6 episodes
Teens React Herself 2 episodes
Guidance Liddy Main role (season 2)
2018 My Dead Ex Amber Episode: "The Z Word" 

Music videos

Awards and nominations

Year  AwardCategoryWorkResult Ref.
2013Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries, Special or Pilot - Leading Actress[26]
2016Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring ActressGamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything[27]
Young Entertainer AwardsBest Guest Starring Young Actress - Television SeriesBest Friends Whenever[28]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 'The Half Of It' Star Leah Lewis Really Wanted to Cry During That Dumpling Scene. Feller. Madison. May 2, 2020. ELLE. en-US. May 3, 2020. May 5, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200505014742/https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a32335137/the-half-of-it-leah-lewis-interview-netflix/. live.
  2. Web site: Turning 22 means CHAAANGGGE. This is the year. Low key, last year was the year too. 21 brought so much love into my life. The growth is worth a smile and a half. The experiences exceeded what I'd ever expect the year to have had, and the people have made my last year feel like the best most entertaining rom-com. I am so happy and so grateful to experience life. Thank you. Here's a ridiculous video of me ripping off my 21 year old skin.. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/leahmlewis/1930776527528645042 . December 25, 2021 . registration. leahmlewis. December 9, 2018. Instagram.
  3. Web site: Payson Lewis on Instagram: "the absolute happiest of birthdays goes out to this spectacular cosmic ray of star shine; the one that keeps this big goofy smile glued to…". https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/paysonlewis/2195246496764180622 . December 25, 2021 . registration. Instagram. en. May 4, 2020.
  4. Web site: Leah Lewis - Rotten Tomatoes. www.rottentomatoes.com. en. May 3, 2020. December 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191212023635/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/leah_lewis. live.
  5. Web site: The Voice 2013. IMDb. May 3, 2020. September 4, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210904135251/https://www.imdb.com/video/vi435988505. live.
  6. 10 Things You Didn't Know about Leah Lewis. TVOvermind. Aiden. Mason. October 13, 2019. April 9, 2020. April 11, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200411212414/https://www.tvovermind.com/leah-lewis/. live.
  7. Actress Leah Lewis discovered her passion while growing up in Windermere. Orange Observer. Tim. Freed. January 2, 2020. April 9, 2020. April 11, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200411212429/https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/actress-leah-lewis-discovered-her-passion-while-growing-up-in-gotha. live.
  8. Web site: Leah Lewis Auditioned For The Voice. Phillips. Hedy. April 27, 2020. POPSUGAR Celebrity. en-US. May 4, 2020.
  9. Web site: Guidance - TV Review. December 16, 2018. www.commonsensemedia.org. en. May 4, 2020. May 17, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210517164450/https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/guidance. live.
  10. Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire to Star in Alice Wu's 'The Half of It' Teen Romance for Netflix. The Hollywood Reporter. Etan. Vlessing. April 22, 2019. April 9, 2020. May 1, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200501161711/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/leah-lewis-alexxis-lemire-star-netflix-teen-romance-it-1203642. live.
  11. Web site: Netflix's "The Half of It" Star Leah Lewis Explains Why Ellie Chu's Story Is Vital to the Coming-of-Age Canon. Teen Vogue. May 2020. May 2, 2020. November 1, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201101034911/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/the-half-of-it-netflix-leah-lewis-ellie-chu-interview. live.
  12. Web site: Elemental's first teaser trailer is a steamy meet-cute from Pixar. Webster. Andrew. TheVerge. November 17, 2022. November 17, 2022.
  13. Web site: How The Good Dinosaur's director found his perfect Elemental cast. Polygon. Petrana. Radulovic. May 16, 2023. May 16, 2023. May 17, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230517062245/https://www.polygon.com/23724121/elemental-voice-cast-director-pixar-peter-sohn-interview. live.
  14. Web site: 'Elemental' Trailer: Pixar Unveils an Eye-Popping New World Where Fire, Earth, Water and Air Co-Exist. Variety. November 17, 2022.
  15. Web site: 'Elemental' Teaser Trailer Introduces Disney-Pixar Audiences to Element City's Fire, Water, Land and Air Residents (Video). TheWrap. November 17, 2022 .
  16. Web site: Milligan . Mercedes . 2023-12-07 . Teaser: 'The Tiger's Apprentice' Brings Mythical Martial Arts Tale to Paramount+ on Feb. 2 . 2023-12-07 . . en-US.
  17. Web site: Kit . Borys . 2020-11-10 . 'Half of It' Star Leah Lewis Joins Henry Golding in Paramount Animation's 'The Tiger's Apprentice' (Exclusive) . 2023-04-13 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.
  18. Web site: Leah Lewis Is a Budding Photographer. Phillips. Hedy. April 27, 2020. POPSUGAR Celebrity. en-US. May 4, 2020.
  19. Web site: Ellie Chu in 'The Half of It' Is Leah Lewis' Breakout Role. Distractify. April 10, 2020. en. May 4, 2020. May 16, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200516203329/https://www.distractify.com/p/ellie-chu-the-half-of-it. live.
  20. Web site: Leah Lewis on Instagram: "1 year down, forever to go. @paysonlewis". https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/leahmlewis/1513872416597522657 . December 25, 2021 . registration. Instagram. en. May 4, 2020.
  21. Web site: Leah Lewis Has Been With Her Boyfriend For Years. Phillips. Hedy. April 27, 2020. POPSUGAR Celebrity. en-US. May 4, 2020.
  22. Web site: 5 things to know about Leah Lewis, star of Netflix's The Half of It. May 8, 2020. South China Morning Post. en. May 9, 2020. May 9, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200509075139/https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3083401/5-things-know-about-leah-lewis-chinese-american-star. live.
  23. Web site: Who is Leah Lewis dating? Is Payson Lewis her boyfriend?. PopBuzz. en. May 9, 2020.
  24. Web site: 'Matlock,' 'Good Wife' Spinoff 'Elsbeth,' and Damon Wayans & Damon Wayans Jr. Comedy Ordered to Series at CBS. Variety. BreAnna. Bell. May 9, 2023. August 18, 2024.
  25. Web site: Leah Lewis's Tweet. Twitter. en. May 27, 2020.
  26. Web site: 34th Annual Young Artist Awards - Nominations / Special Awards. https://archive.today/20160417174701/http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms34.html. dead. April 17, 2016. April 17, 2016. archive.is. May 9, 2020.
  27. Web site: Nominations » Young Artist Awards. April 24, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160424165415/http://youngartistawards.org/2016-nominations-2/. May 9, 2020. April 24, 2016.
  28. Web site: Young Entertainer Awards Submissions. www.youngentertainerawards.org. May 9, 2020. November 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191115030143/http://www.youngentertainerawards.org/nominating2016.html. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Leah Lewis".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.