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

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

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

member who portrayed the

Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are fictional characters, and often protagonists, featured in many works within the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Galactic Republic, the Jedi Order is depic ...

Master Aayla Secura in ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' films released in 2002 and 2005. She worked behind the scenes on many different movies, including ''

A.I. Artificial Intelligence ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (or simply ''A.I.'') is a 2001 American science fiction drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. The screenplay by Spielberg and screen story by Ian Watson are loosely based on the 1969 short story " Supertoy ...

'', before she acted in ''Star Wars''.

Acting career

After graduating in film at the

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

, Allen was a production assistant with

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

, with credits in films such as ''

'', ''

Jurassic Park III ''Jurassic Park III'' is a 2001 American Science fiction film, science fiction adventure film, adventure action film directed by Joe Johnston and written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor (writer), Jim Taylor. It is the third ...

'' and ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

''. During a break from filming ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American-Italian epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The fil ...

'' once the film's release date was postponed, she wound up working in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'', and was selected to portray Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, a humanoid of the Twi'lek species with distinctive head tails and blue skin. 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, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

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'' (also known simply as ''Star Wars: The Phantom Menace''), is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and d ...

'' 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 Clone troopers are fictional characters from the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. First introduced in the live-action film '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' (2002), they have since appeared in various other ...

as part of the Jedi Purge.

Personal life

Allen grew up in

Los Angeles county Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, first in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

and then

Agoura Hills Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...

where she attended

Agoura High School Agoura High School is a public high school in Agoura Hills, California, United States. It is the largest high school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Athletics and activities Agoura High School's athletic teams are nicknamed the Cha ...

, before moving to San Francisco at 18 for college. She is the granddaughter of writer

Henry Wilson Allen Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen (September 29, 1912 – October 26, 1991) was an American author of historical fiction and a screenwriter. He used several different pseudonyms for his works. His 50+ novels of the American West were published under th ...

. 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 actresses