Jewel Staite

Jewel Belair Staite (born June 2, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Kaylee Frye in the Fox television series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its spin-off theatrical film '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jennifer Keller on Sci-Fi Channel's science fiction television series ''Stargate Atlantis'' (2007–2009). Staite also starred as Catalina in ''Space Cases'' (1996), as "Becca" Fisher in ''Flash Forward'' (1996–1997), as Raquel Westbrook in the Canadian drama '' The L.A. Complex'' (2012), and as Caroline Swift in AMC's crime drama '' The Killing'' (2013–2014). Since 2021, she has starred as Abigail Bianchi in the Canadian legal drama series ''Family Law''.

Early life

Staite was born in White Rock, British Columbia. The youngest of seven children, she modeled as a child and has acted since age six. She has stated that she is of British, Irish, French Canadian, and Iroquois ancestry. Staite attended Vancouver Film School and worked at the Vancouver Youth Theatre.

Career

Staite began her career as a child actress, with appearances in television movies such as CBC's '' Liar, Liar'' in 1993 (which was later aired on CBS in the United States that same year) and ABC's ''The Only Way Out''. In 1995, Staite had a key guest-starring role in a third-season episode of ''The X-Files'', titled "Oubliette".

After appearing on ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1994), Staite's first co-starring role on a television series was as Catalina, the ship's engineer, in the first season of Nickelodeon science fiction television series ''Space Cases'' in 1996. This was immediately followed by her role as Rebecca "Becca" Fisher on the 1995–1997 Disney Channel series ''Flash Forward'', a series in which Staite was the co-lead with Ben Foster.

In 2000, she was cast in a main role on the FOX Family Channel drama series '' Higher Ground''. She was also a voice actress in the animated TV series ''Mummies Alive!'' and '' Sabrina: The Animated Series'' for DIC Entertainment.

Staite played Kaylee Frye in the short-lived television series ''Firefly'' and its subsequent 2005 film, '' Serenity''. She wrote a chapter in the book ''Finding Serenity'', called "Kaylee Speaks: Jewel Staite On ''Firefly''". She played the recurring role of Heidi Gotts in the television series ''Wonderfalls'' in 2004.

Staite played the role of head medical doctor Jennifer Keller in the ''Stargate SG-1'' spinoff ''Stargate Atlantis'', making her the third actor from the ''Firefly'' series to move on to appear in a ''Stargate'' series (the first being Adam Baldwin, who had a brief role as a colonel in the ''Stargate SG-1'' episode "Heroes", and the second being Morena Baccarin, who played Adria, the main villain in the tenth season of ''SG-1''), and the second to take a recurring role. She replaced Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett).
In the fifth season of ''Stargate'', her character was changed from recurring status to part of the main cast. Before taking on the role as Dr. Keller, she previously played the Wraith child Ellia in the ''Stargate Atlantis'' episode "Instinct". She also appeared in the 2010 Syfy film, ''Mothman'', under direction from Sheldon Wilson.
Also in 2010, Staite guest-starred in an episode of ''Warehouse 13'' as the love interest of Sheldon (played by Sean Maher, who played her love interest in ''Firefly''), and in 2011, she guest-starred on an episode of ''Supernatural'' as a former love interest of Sam.

In 2012, Staite was a series regular on '' The L.A. Complex'', in which she portrayed Raquel Westbrook, a struggling actress. The show aired in Canada on CTV and MuchMusic and in the U.S. on The CW. She also appeared in an episode of '' The Listener''. Staite appeared in 10 episodes of the AMC crime drama, '' The Killing'', as Detective Stephen Holder's girlfriend Caroline Swift, from 2013–2014.

Personal life

Staite was married to actor Matt Anderson from 2003 to 2011. In May 2015, she became engaged to her boyfriend Charlie Ritchie. Later the same month, she announced she was pregnant with her first child, a boy. On December 9, 2015, she announced the birth of her son Wilder Cathcart Ritchie. She married Charlie Ritchie on July 23, 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Staite, Jewel
1982 births
Living people
Canadian child actresses
Female models from British Columbia
Canadian film actresses
Canadian television actresses
Canadian voice actresses
People from White Rock, British Columbia
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian people of British descent
Canadian people of French descent
Canadian people of Iroquois descent
Actresses from British Columbia
20th-century Canadian actresses
21st-century Canadian actresses