Brittany Ann Daniel (born March 17, 1976) is an American actress. She is the

twin sister Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

of photographer and former actress Cynthia Daniel. Daniel is best known for her roles as

Jessica Wakefield ''Sweet Valley High'' is a series of young adult novels attributed to American author Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefi ...

in the teen drama series '' Sweet Valley High'' (1994–1997) and as Kelly Pitts in the CW/

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

comedy-drama series '' The Game'' (2006–2011; 2014–2015). Her film credits include Brandy in '' Joe Dirt'' (2001) and its 2015 sequel, '' White Chicks'' (2004), and ''Skyline'' (2010).

Early life

On March 17, 1976, Brittany and her twin sister, Cynthia, were born in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

, to Carolyn and Charlton Bradford ('C.B.') Daniel Jr. They have an older brother, Brad. By age 11, both girls were signed to the

Ford Agency Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. Company Ford Models was started in 1946 by Eileen ...

and began modeling. They appeared in '' Seventeen'' and '' YM''. They also appeared in ads for

Doublemint Doublemint is a variety of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company; according to early advertisements, it is "double strength" peppermint flavored. It was launched in the United States in 1914, and has had variable market share since then. Th ...

gum as the Doublemint Twins.

Career

Both girls began acting in the 1989 with an appearance in the sitcom '' The New Leave It to Beaver.'' In 1992, when she was sixteen, Brittany won the role of Mila Rosnovsky on the short-lived syndicated

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

'' Swan's Crossing''. She then moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to film the series. After

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, she landed the role of

in the television series '' Sweet Valley High'' (twin sister Cynthia portrayed Jessica's twin, Elizabeth). During the run of ''Sweet Valley High'', the girls made their film debut in the drama '' The Basketball Diaries'' (1995) alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. After ''Sweet Valley High'' was canceled in 1997, Daniel continued acting in films and television series including a stint on ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

'' in 1999 and a role in the TBS television movie '' On Hostile Ground'' the following year. In 2001, she appeared as David Spade's love interest, Brandy, in '' Joe Dirt''. In 2002, Daniel played one of the lead characters in the short-lived Fox series '' That '80s Show''. In 2002, she played Eric Forman's cousin Penny on ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television period teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, ...

''. Daniel also appeared on the show ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Char ...

'' as a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

woman named Carmen. She teamed with the Wayans Brothers for their films '' White Chicks'' (2004) and '' Little Man'' (2006). That same year, she appeared in the VH1 television movie '' Totally Awesome'' before landing a lead role in The CW Television Network's half-hour comedy '' The Game'', which she starred in until 2011. However, she would return to the show in 2014. In February 2010, she was cast in the Brothers Strause thriller ''

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylin ...

''; the film was released on November 12, 2010.

Personal life

In March 2014, Daniel revealed that in 2011, she was diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, for which she underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemother ...

. As of 2014, she was cancer-free. She dated actor Keenen Ivory Wayans from 2007 to 2014. In 2017, she married Adam Touni. On 24 October 2021 Brittany welcomed a daughter, Hope Rose Touni after her sister, Cynthia, donated her egg.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Brittany 1976 births Actresses from Florida American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Gainesville High School (Florida) alumni Identical twin actresses Living people Actresses from Gainesville, Florida American twins 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Female models from Florida