Leah Lewis (born December 9, 1996) is a Chinese-American actress, model and singer who began her career as a child actress. She is best known for her roles as Ellie Chu in the 2020

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 ...

film ''

The Half of It ''The Half of It'' is a 2020 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Alice Wu. It stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire, with Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker, an ...

'' and as Georgia "George" Fan in

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 adaptation of ''

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published ...

''.

Early life and education

Lewis was adopted from an orphanage in

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

when she was eight months old and raised in

Windermere, Florida Windermere is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,030. It is part of the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A Post Office opened at Windermere in 1888. The Post Office c ...

. Her younger, non-biologically related sister, Lydia, was later adopted from the same orphanage. Their parents, Frederick and Lorraine Lewis, are both realtors. Leah discovered performing arts at Crenshaw School in Orlando, Florida. She also attended Thornebrooke Elementary School in

Ocoee, Florida Ocoee () is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. According to the 2019 US Census population estimate, the city had a population of 48,263. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hist ...

; she also attended Southwest Middle School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

as well as Gotha Middle School. She and her mother moved back and forth between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

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.

Career

At a young age, Lewis started booking commercials. Once her family moved to Los Angeles, she acted in the 2012 Nickelodeon film, '' Fred 3: Camp Fred'' as the character Spoon. In 2013, she auditioned for the fourth season of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

,'' singing "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood. None of the coaches turned their chairs, meaning that Leah did not make it onto the show. In 2015 and 2016, she was featured in Disney shows ''

Best Friends Whenever ''Best Friends Whenever'' is an American comedy television series created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas that premiered on Disney Channel on June 26, 2015. Its final episode aired on December 11, 2016, after two seasons. The series stars Land ...

'' as well as '' Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything.'' She also was a main character on season 2 of the

Michelle Trachtenberg Michelle Trachtenberg (; born October 11, 1985) is an American actress and model. Trachtenberg began her career at age three, appearing in a number of commercials, films, and television series as a child. Her starring role on the Nickelodeon tel ...

-produced gq40 web series, '' Guidance''. Once she moved back to Los Angeles after graduating from high school, she began booking roles in TV shows like ''

Station 19 ''Station 19'' is an American action- drama television series created by Stacy McKee for ABC that premiered on March 22, 2018. It is the second spin-off of '' Grey's Anatomy'' (after '' Private Practice''). Set in Seattle, the series focuses on ...

'' and '' The Good Doctor.'' Lewis had a recurring role in

series ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

.'' She then later joined the main cast of another The CW show, a 2019 TV adaptation of ''

'' on which she plays Georgia "George" Fan, based on the original character

George Fayne Georgia "George" Fayne is a character in the popular ''Nancy Drew Mystery Stories'' series. She is one of Nancy's best friends and cousin of Bess Marvin. Her birth name is Georgia, although no one calls her that except her parents. (This is a chan ...

. Her first major film role was as the lead character, Ellie Chu, in the 2020

film, ''

''.

Personal life

Beyond acting, Lewis sings, plays guitar, and does photography. In May 2016, she began dating singer/actor Payson Lewis. The couple coincidentally share the same last name.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Leah 1996 births Living people Actresses from Florida American adoptees American television actresses American web series actresses Chinese emigrants to the United States People from Orange County, Florida 21st-century American actresses American actresses of Chinese descent