Jennie Kwan

For the Canadian politician, see Jenny Kwan.

Jennie Kwan
Born	Jennifer Trinidad Fernando (1973-09-09) September 9, 1973 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Minx Lee
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Matthew Garrett (divorced) Andrew Verona (2013–present)

Jennie Kwan (born Jennifer Trinidad Fernando; September 9, 1973) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Samantha "Sam" Woo on California Dreams and as the voice of Suki on Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Career

Kwan began acting at age 11, when she started performing with the touring company, "Kids of the Century." Her first television role was in 1991 as the voice of Audrey in Little Shop, a series based on the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors. [1]

Kwan is most notable for portraying the character Samantha Woo on NBC's hit show, California Dreams. In 1992, she auditioned for the lead role as Tiffani, but lost out to Kelly Packard. However, the incident led to them being best friends until this day. In that same year, she also appeared in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. In January 1993, she began performing the role as Kim in Chicago's production of Miss Saigon. Later that year, the producers of California Dreams called her back to join the main cast, playing the role of Sam, a foreign exchange student. Kwan replaced Heidi Noelle Lenhart (who, coincidentally, played the role of "Jenny") in the main cast and remained with the show until its cancellation in 1997.

During that year, Kwan appeared as a guest star on Family Matters, playing a snooty sorority girl, and on The Nanny, playing Mai Ling, Fran's UNICEF foster daughter. She also starred in the role of "Trish" in the film Trojan War.

In addition, Kwan played the role of student Diane in the Los Angeles production of musical Bare, a Pop Opera as well as a starring role in the one-woman play, Faces of America. Other stage credits include a brief appearance in Jewtopia as well as time playing the role of Jasmine in Aladdin. Kwan is also considered a pioneer in the web series genre for her work in the and the online series Fear of a Punk Planet.

In 2001, Kwan left acting for a while to join the girl group Nobody's Angel. In 2002, the members of the group received a Gold Record for their work on two songs featured on the soundtrack of The Princess Diaries. She is credited as being one of the creators of the Nobody's Angel television show for the ABC Family Network. Unfortantely for Kwan and the rest of the members of the group, the show's pilot received terrible reviews and the series was never picked up. With the group's popularity quickly declining, highlighted by the show's failure, Nobody's Angel split up for good later that year.

Kwan returned to acting in 2005, when she played the role of female warrior Suki on the Asian-influenced animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. She starred in the Las Vegas original cast of the musical "Avenue Q", and spent time starring in the national tour as an understudy for the role of Christmas Eve. In late 2008, Kwan was let go from the cast and released from her contract. Her bio was quickly taken off the show's site. No press release was issued announcing whether or not it was her decision to leave.

In 2009, she provided the voice for Bitgirl, Myang Myang and Edu in Random! Cartoons.

On the March 4, 2010 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Kwan participated in the California Dreams reunion with most of her former castmates. While introducing herself, Kwan blushed after she suddenly became tongue-tied as she tried to discuss her recent television and stage work. She is presently back in theater, playing the role of Teruko in the 25th anniversary production of "Tea, With Music" at East West Players.

Kwan played the role of Lu Chang in the 2015 comedy, Promoted.

Personal life

Kwan, a Filipino American, was born in Los Angeles, California. She graduated high school in 1994 while she was still appearing on California Dreams and other shows including ITV's Funhouse. Kwan says she was often embarrassed in high school because despite being famous, she never had a boyfriend. Since 2013, Kwan has been married to Andrew Verona who's 14 years her junior. It is her second marriage. Her first marriage ended in divorce.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Beverly Hills, 90210	Girl #1	Ep. Song of Myself
1993-1997	California Dreams	Samantha 'Sam' Woo	Main role
1997	Family Matters	Kimberly	Ep. Revenge of the Nerd
1997	The Nanny	Mai Ling	Ep. Mommy and Mai
2010	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	Herself/Performer	Ep. 2.29
2013	Anger Management	Woman	Ep. Charlie and His New Friend with Benefits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Country Estates	Cheerleader	TV movie
1997	Trojan War	Trish
2009	Let's Do It!: A California Dreams Reunion	Herself	Documentary short
2011	Play Time	The Wife	Short film
2012	Invasion of the Money Snatchers	Velma	Short film
2014	Promoted	Lu Chang

Animation

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Little Shop	Audrey	Main role
2005-2008	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Suki	Recurring role
2006	Eureka Seven	Sakuya	English dub
2007	Fate/stay night	Ayako Mitsuzuri	English dub; as Minx Lee
2007	When They Cry	Satoko Hojo	English dub; as Minx Lee
2007	Rozen Maiden	Nori Sakurada	English dub; as Minx Lee
2009	Random Cartoons	Myang Myang, Bitgirl, Edu	Ep. Dr. Dee and Bit Boy
2011	Durarara!!	Miria Harvent	English dub; as Minx Lee

Video games

• BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - Additional Voices (uncredited)
• Rune Factory Frontier - Eunice (uncredited)

External links

• Official Website
• Jennie Kwan at the Internet Movie Database