Jenna Lee Dewan (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a

backup dancer A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...

for

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

, and later worked with artists including

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her role as Nora Clark in the 2006 film '' Step Up''. She has also starred on the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series ''

The Playboy Club ''The Playboy Club'' is an American historical crime drama television series that aired on NBC from September 19 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers on the employees (known as Bunnies) of the original Playboy Club operating in ...

'' and had a recurring role on the FX series '' American Horror Story: Asylum''. She portrayed

Freya Beauchamp The following is a list of characters from the Lifetime supernatural drama ''Witches of East End'', based on the book of the same name by Melissa de la Cruz. The series centers on a family of immortal witches known as the Beauchamps: Joanna by J ...

on the Lifetime series ''

Witches of East End ''Witches of East End'' is a 2011 novel by author Melissa de la Cruz and the first entry in her ''Beauchamp Family'' series. It was published on June 21, 2011, by Hyperion Books and follows a family of Long Island witches struggling against da ...

'',

Lucy Lane Lucy Lane is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics. She is the younger sister of Lois Lane, and one of several characters who have assumed the Superwoman identity. She was played by Maureen Teefy in the 1984 film ''Supergirl'' and Peyton ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

series ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' and '' Superman & Lois'' and Joanna in ''

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

'' on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. Dewan has hosted the reality television shows ''

World of Dance World of Dance is a Southern California-based dance, fashion, music, and entertainment brand founded by David Gonzalez, Myron Marten, and Michael McGinn in 2008. It is the world's largest dance entertainment enterprise, elevating artists and bra ...

'' and '' Flirty Dancing'' and served as a judge on '' Come Dance with Me''. She currently stars as Bailey on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's '' The Rookie''. She also had a recurring role on the FOX medical drama '' The Resident''.

Early life

Dewan was born December 3, 1980 in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, the daughter of Nancy Smith (née Bursch) and Darryll Dewan, who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

on the 1972 Notre Dame football team. Her father is of Lebanese and Polish descent and her mother is of German and English ancestry. As a child, Dewan moved frequently; she mentioned in an interview that she lived in seven cities before reaching the seventh grade. While attending high school at Notre Dame Preparatory School in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

, Dewan was a varsity cheerleader. She transferred to

Grapevine High School Grapevine High School is a public high school located in the far northeast portion of Tarrant County in the city of Grapevine, Texas (USA). It is part of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District. Its attendance boundary includes ...

Grapevine, Texas Grapevine is a city and suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County and Denton County. The city is located in the Mid-Cities suburban region between Da ...

. She was also a varsity

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

there and was voted

prom queen A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school ye ...

during her senior year. She went to

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and was a member of the California Gamma chapter of

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

Career

Dancing

Dewan first appeared in

's " Doesn't Really Matter" video in 2000 and later in " All for You" and the

All for You Tour The All for You Tour was the fourth concert tour by American recording artist Janet Jackson, in support of her seventh studio album '' All for You'' (2001). The show was designed by Mark Fisher and Jackson. It was originally scheduled to start ...

in 2001. She credits working with Jackson for aiding her career, allowing her to later work with many other artists and giving her the experience necessary to co-star in the dance film '' Step Up''. In 2016, Dewan modeled as the face of dancewear manufacturer Danskin in a campaign and photo shoot that captured and featured her athleticism as a dancer.

Acting

In 2006, Dewan co-starred with

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film ''Step Up (film), Step Up''. He gained wider attention for ...

in '' Step Up'', as well as starring in ''

Take the Lead ''Take the Lead'' is a 2006 American drama dance film directed by Liz Friedlander and starring Antonio Banderas as dance instructor Pierre Dulaine, the founder of Dancing Classrooms. It also stars Alfre Woodard, John Ortiz, Rob Brown, Yaya DaC ...

'' that same year. In August 2008, Dewan starred in the Lifetime made-for-television film '' Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal'' which follows five rule-breaking teens. She portrayed the role of disciplinarian Coach Emma Carr. In November 2009, she appeared in the straight-to-DVD comedy '' American Virgin'' alongside

Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider (; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', he went on to a career in feature films, including starri ...

. In March 2011, Dewan was cast in the

pilot of ''

''. In May 2011, NBC picked up the series for a full season. She portrayed the role of Bunny Janie, a provocative Playboy bunny who works at a Playboy Club in Chicago in 1961. The series premiered on September 19 to 5.2 million viewers with mixed reviews from critics. Due to low ratings, NBC cancelled the series after just three episodes in October 2011. In November 2011, Dewan starred in the film ''The Jerk Theory''. This was first released in Germany in 2009. It was later released in the United States in November 2011. Dewan appeared in the romantic-comedy film '' 10 Years'', alongside her then-husband Channing Tatum, who also co-produced. The film was released on September 14, 2012. That same year, she appeared as Teresa Morrison in '' American Horror Story: Asylum'', the second season of the horror television series. In 2013, Dewan began starring in the Lifetime series ''

'' as

, one of the lead characters. In late 2015, she began a recurring role in the CBS/CW series ''

'' as

, and reprised the role in its spinoff '' Superman & Lois.'' She also had a recurring role in FOX's The Resident. Dewan's upcoming projects include ''

The Wedding Year ''The Wedding Year'' is a 2019 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Sarah Hyland, Tyler James Williams, Jenna Dewan, Matt Shively and Anna Camp. It was released on September 20, 2019, by Entertainment Studios M ...

'', ''

Berlin, I Love You ''Berlin, I Love You'' is a 2019 anthology romantic drama film starring an ensemble cast. A joint German and U.S. production, it serves as an installment of the ''Cities of Love'', series created by Emmanuel Benbihy. It was released on Febru ...

'' and ''

''. She joined the cast of

's '' The Rookie'' as Bailey in its third season, and was promoted to series regular in its fourth season. In 2018, Dewan makes an appearance on the television series '' Seatbelt Psychic'' and receives a spooky reading from the famous medium Thomas John.

33andOut Productions

Along with friends Reid Carolin, Adam Martingano, Brett Rodriguez and

, Dewan started a production company called 33andOut Productions. Their first production is a documentary called ''Earth Made of Glass'' that follows Rwandan President

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

and genocide survivor Jean-Pierre Sagahutu. It premiered at the 2010

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

. Dewan and Tatum collaborated in a

YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

television series '' Step Up'', where they executive produced together.

Personal life

In 2006, Dewan started dating actor

after meeting on the set of their film '' Step Up''. They married on July 11, 2009, in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. They have one daughter, born in 2013. On April 2, 2018, the couple announced that they were separating. Six months later, Dewan filed for divorce from Tatum. Their divorce was finalized in November 2019. In October 2018, it was confirmed that Dewan was in a relationship with actor

Steve Kazee Steven Michael Kazee (born October 30, 1975) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for starring as Guy in the musical ''Once'' for which he was awarded the 2012 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Kazee ...

. In February 2020, she and Kazee announced their engagement. They have one son, born in 2020. Dewan is an

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activist and a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

. PETA declared her to be one of three "Sexiest Vegans" of 2017.Daisy Murray, "PETA's 'Sexiest Vegan' List Is In, And Not Just One, But Three Women Won,"
ELLE
', July 10, 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Producer

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewan, Jenna 1980 births Living people 21st-century American actresses American documentary film producers American female dancers American film actresses Film producers from Texas American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Lebanese descent American people of Polish descent American people of Syrian descent American television actresses American women in business Actresses from Hartford, Connecticut Actresses from Texas Dancers from Texas People from Grapevine, Texas University of Southern California alumni Film producers from Connecticut American women documentary filmmakers