Amy Allen (born October 24, 1976) is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and

film crew A film crew is a group of people, hired by a production company, for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the cast, as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear in front of the camera ...

member who portrayed the

Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi ...

Master

Aayla Secura This incomplete list of characters from the ''Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt Dis ...

in ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' films released in 2002 and 2005. She worked behind the scenes on many different movies, including '' A.I. Artificial Intelligence'', before she acted in ''Star Wars''.

Acting career

A production assistant with

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began ...

at the time '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' was being filmed, Allen was selected to portray Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, a humanoid of the Twi'lek species with distinctive head tails and blue skin.Star Wars: From EU to Episode II: Aayla Secura
The character was a last-minute addition to the ''Episode II'' script; she had been created for a licensed ''Star Wars'' comic book by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

and was added to the film after Lucas saw a cover illustration of the character. Allen had previously been cast as an extra in the DVD release of ''

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ahmed Best, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Dan ...

'' as a Twi'lek as well. She reprised her role as Aayla Secura in '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith''. Her character is killed by clone troopers as part of the Jedi Purge.

Personal life

Allen graduated from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

. Prior to being cast in the ''Star Wars'' films, she was employed behind the camera on the set of several other films. She first worked for

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

during a break from filming '' Gangs of New York''. Allen frequently makes appearances at conventions, including C2 and C3, SDCC 2005, Celebration V (2010) and Celebration VI (2012). At Celebration II, she participated in a panel discussion of "Women Who Kick."

Partial filmography

*'' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' (2002) - Aayla Secura / Mya Nalle / Yma Nalle / Lela Mayn (uncredited) *'' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) - Aayla Secura

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Amy 1976 births Living people Actresses from Burbank, California San Francisco State University alumni American film actresses 21st-century American women