Andrea Lewis

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Andrea Lewis
Image:Andrea lewis.jpg
Born	August 15, 1985 (age 21)
Notable roles	Hazel Aden in Degrassi: The Next Generation

For Microsoft's first technical writer, See Andrea Lewis (Microsoft)

Andrea Desiree Lewis (born August 15, 1985 in Pickering, Ontario) is a Canadian born actress best known for her portrayal of Hazel Aden on the teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation.

1 Biography
2 Television and Film
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
  - 3.1.1 Singles
4 Filmography
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Lewis is half Jamaican on her mother's side and half Vincentian on her father's side. To add to her international bloodlines' make-up, her maternal grandmother was half Indian, and her maternal grandfather half Portuguese.

Lewis began acting at age two. Apart from acting, Lewis is also a budding singer, having trained her voice at the famous New York Music Conservatory. Lewis has also written some songs, although none of them have become a major hit.

[edit] Television and Film

Lewis appeared alongside Diahann Carroll in the biopic The Natalie Cole Story. She also acted alongside Naomi Judd in A Holiday Romance, which was a television Christmas special. In 1998, she played "Cassandra" in the critically acclaimed feature, Down in the Delta.

In 2001, she received the first of two opportunities to participate in Soul Food: The Series on Showtime. She played "Brigette" in an episode titled "God Bless the Child".

One of her biggest breaks in acting came later on in 2002, when she got the opportunity to play Hilary Duff's best friend in the made for television movie Cadet Kelly, where she also acted alongside Christy Carlson Romano. This movie became a regular feature on American cable channel Disney. She played "Carla Hall" in the movie. "Carla Hall" was a military school cadet who would not break school rules until she met "Kelly", played by Duff. In 2003, she reappeared on Soul Food: The Series, once again for only one episode, but this time, playing a different character: "Dana".

What has been, so far, arguably her biggest break in the entertainment business, however, came also in 2002, when she began to play "Hazel Aden" in Degrassi: The Next Generation. Degrassi: The Next Generation followed in the steps of six other shows branded with the Degrassi name (dating back to 1979) in becoming a major hit across Canada, and Lewis reached fame, at least among teenaged television viewers.

In 2002, Degrassi: The Next Generation began to be shown on Nickelodeon's The N, a network geared towards more mature adolescent audiences, and Lewis began to become known in the United States as well.