Damaris Lewis (born October 10, 1990) is an American model and actress. During her modeling career, she appeared in the ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted ...

s'' from 2009 to 2011. As an actress, she portrayed Blackfire on the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

superhero series ''

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

'' (2019–2021).

Early life

Lewis was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Her parents are

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

from the island of

St. Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

. She studied with a conservatory-style arts concentration in dance at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Lewis was discovered while performing with her childhood dance company, Restoration Dance Theater at

Chelsea Piers Chelsea Piers is a series of piers in Chelsea, on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located to the west of the West Side Highway ( Eleventh Avenue) and Hudson River Park and to the east of the Hudson River, they were originally ...

. She waited until her second year of high school to sign a contract with

Elite Model Management Elite Model Management (MM) is a modeling agency that originated in Paris in 1972. In 2004, the agencies in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Toronto separated and formed Elite Model Management North America. Elite MM is a subsidiary of El ...

Career

Modelling

Lewis has appeared in campaigns for Black/Up,

Clarins Clarins is a family-run France, French multinational cosmetics company, which was founded in Paris in 1954 by Jacques Courtin-Clarins. In addition to manufacturing and selling cosmetics, skincare and perfume products, the company is also a major ...

MAC Cosmetics M A C Cosmetics is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company has been headquartered in New York City since becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies in 1998. MAC is an acron ...

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

, and Yves Saint Laurent. She has done editorial shoots for ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit'' 2009, 2010, 2011; ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'', French ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'', ''

Self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', and '' GQ''.

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

and

Modelinia Modelinia is a cross-platform media brand founded by Desiree Gruber and Liane Mullin in 2009 to provide an access point for in-depth coverage of the life and work of the contemporary Supermodel. Content Modelinia features breaking news stories, ...

selected her to do a three-day, feature-style interview video set. This platform exposed her to a wider audience.

Film and television

Lewis appeared briefly in the 2011 movie '' Limitless'', dancing in a club scene with

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and three Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Acade ...

. She also appeared in

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

's 2018 film ''

BlacKkKlansman ''BlacKkKlansman'' is a 2018 American biographical film, biographical Crime film, crime comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, loosely based on the 2014 memoir ''Black K ...

'' as Odetta. She hosted a special presentation for

The Africa Channel The Africa Channel is a cable and streaming channel focusing on travel, lifestyle, and culture documentaries. The channel covers the lands, people, culture, and history of Africa. Co-founded by Zimbabwean James Makawa, who had prior experience in t ...

titled ''Prince! Behind The Symbol: Music Special'', during his ''

Welcome 2 Welcome 2 was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince. Playing over 80 shows, the tour reached North America, Europe, and Australia. Each leg of the tour was branded with the "Welcome 2" title followed by the continent in which the leg ...

America - 21 Night Stand'' at the Los Angeles Forum. Lewis starred in the promo video that kicked off the

2013 NBA All-Star Game The 2013 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 17, 2013, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2012–13 season. It was the 62nd edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at Toyota C ...

played in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She went on to co-host NBA Style for

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

and NBA TV with Turner Broadcasting for three years. In 2016, Lewis co-hosted ESPN's City Slam Dunk Competition. In 2018, Lewis played Jazmine Wintour, a member of the House of Wintour, on the '' FX channel'' series ''

Pose Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning. *''Position'' is a gen ...

''. The same year she played the character Blackfire in season two of the

series ''

'', and was later promoted to series regular for season three.

Dance

Musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

hired her as a dancer for his ''

Australia Tour 2012'' with

The New Power Generation The New Power Generation, also known as the NPG, was the backing band of musician Prince from 1990 to 2013. They were replaced by 3rdeyegirl as his backing band in 2013. In 2015, the New Power Generation reunited as Prince's backing band for ...

. Lewis continuing touring with Prince & NPG for his 2012 ''Welcome to Chicago Tour'', appeared with the band on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'', and served as his muse for his closing show at SXSW 2013 in Austin, Texas. In the summer of 2013, Lewis traveled to Switzerland to perform with Prince's band at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

. She remained in his employ as a dancer until his passing in April 2016.

Personal life

Starting in 2009, Lewis has volunteered with organizations such as Project Sunshine and The Garden of Dreams, a nonprofit organization associated with

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, and

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, has i ...

. Starting in 2014, Lewis began a three year run as chairwoman for The Garden of Dreams Foundation's annual

prom A promenade dance or prom is a formal dance party for graduating high school students at the end of the school year. Students participating in the prom will typically vote for a ''prom king'' and ''prom queen''. Other students may be honored ...

, organizing proms for a select number of children in the

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

tri-state area, who otherwise would not experience prom.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Damaris 1990 births Actresses from Brooklyn American film actresses American television actresses Female models from New York (state) Living people 21st-century American actresses American people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent