Gianna Simone (born December 22, 1989) is an American actress, model, and producer. She has appeared in roles in the feature films ''

Star Trek Into Darkness ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' is a 2013 American science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the ''Star Trek'' franchise ...

'' (2013), ''

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

'' (2016), '' I Can Only Imagine'' (2018), '' Unbroken: Path to Redemption'' (2018), and several television series.

Early life

Simone is originally from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and during her youth, lived in

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...

, Chelsea, Revere, and Wilbraham. She was abused as a child and placed in Boston's

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...

system at thirteen years old. Her father, Anthony Baxter, was unable to serve as her caretaker at the time, though Simone has since said that Baxter has been "a very positive influence" in her life and helped her make the decision to focus on acting. Around the time Simone entered the foster care system, she enrolled at a gym, where she met the owner Kathy DeMarco, who became her mentor. DeMarco introduced Simone to a small

non-denominational Christian Non-denominational Christianity (or nondenominational Christianity) consists of churches, and individual Christians, which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligni ...

church and wanted to adopt the teenager, but died before doing so. Simone attended

Boston Latin Academy Boston Latin Academy (BLA) is a public exam school founded in 1878 in Boston, Massachusetts providing students in grades 7th through 12th a classical preparatory education. Originally named Girls' Latin School, it became the first college p ...

. Around age sixteen she began pursuing a modeling career.

Career

Simone originally only wanted to focus on modeling, which she pursued despite opposition from agencies, and secured modeling work without agency representation for several years. She signed her first modeling contract with Boston's Maggie Inc. in 2009, and appeared in advertisements for the

American Dental Association The American Dental Association (ADA) is an American professional dental association. Established in 1859 and with over 159,000 current members, ADA is the world's largest and oldest national dental association. The organization lobbies on behal ...

Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño, 8 January 1939) is a Venezuelan Americans, Venezuelan American fashion designer. Known for her personal style, she founded her namesake brand in 1980. Herrera has designed for va ...

Elie Saab Elie Saab () (born 4 July 1964) is a Lebanon-based fashion designer. He started his business in the early 1980s and specialized in bridal couture (high-end fabrics, lace, gemstones, Swarovski Crystal, Swarovski crystals, pearls, detailed embr ...

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), doing business as New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Su ...

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

, and

Vera Wang Vera Ellen Wang (; born June 27, 1949) is an American fashion designer. Wang initially pursued a career in figure skating before transitioning to fashion. She worked for ''Vogue'' and Ralph Lauren before launching her own bridal gown boutique i ...

. In 2010, she appeared on the cover of ''Boston'' magazine at the age of 20, while living in Boston. While pursuing modeling, Simone was encouraged to act by her colleagues. She began to focus on acting when she enrolled at

Bunker Hill Community College Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is a public community college with multiple campuses in the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1973 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, BHCC provides higher education and j ...

and then joined the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

shortly after. She relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 21. She has appeared in the feature films ''

'' (2013), ''

90 Minutes in Heaven ''90 Minutes in Heaven'' is a 2004 Christian book written by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey. The book documents the author's death and resurrection experience in 1989. ''90 Minutes in Heaven'' remained on the ''New York Times Bestseller Lis ...

'' (2015), ''

God's Not Dead 2 ''God's Not Dead 2'' (also known as ''God's Not Dead 2: He's Surely Alive'') is a 2016 American Christian drama film, directed by Harold Cronk, and starring Melissa Joan Hart, Jesse Metcalfe, David A. R. White, Hayley Orrantia and Sadie R ...

'' (2016), and ''

'' (2016), and '' I Can Only Imagine'' (2018). She is slated to appear in the upcoming films '' Unbroken: Path to Redemption'', ''God Bless the Broke Road'', and ''Run the Race''. Simone has also appeared in several television series, including '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', ''

Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

'', and ''Hitting the Breaks'', which she co-produced with

Pure Flix Entertainment Pinnacle Peak Pictures (formerly Pure Flix Entertainment until January 2021) is an American independent evangelical Christian film production and distribution studio founded by David A. R. White and Russell Wolfe. Pinnacle Peak produces Chri ...

through her company GS Productions. In 2015, she created the original series "Love Gianna", launched via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel by REBL HQ, the digital entertainment studio created by

Maker Studios Maker(s) or The Maker(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Maker'' (film), a 1997 American drama film * Maker Studios, now part of Disney Digital Network, an American multi-channel TV network *''Makers'', a 2014 British documentary seri ...

and

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center f ...

. In 2016, Livingly included Simone in their

red carpet fashion Red carpet fashion consists of outfits worn on the red carpet at high-profile gala celebrity events such as award ceremonies and film premieres. The clothes worn to award events such as the Oscars and the Golden Globes consistently receive inten ...

rankings following the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

. She was also included in ''Vogue Germany'' "Best Dressed" list from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Personal life

Simone founded the Gianna Simone Foundation, which provides rescue as well as support to abused and neglected people and animals. The foundation is managed by the

National Christian Foundation National Christian Foundation (NCF) is a US non-profit organization that assists donors in donating to charitable causes.

and supports youth in Maryvale (Los Angeles) and

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

survivors. Simone also works with the

animal rescue group An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take abandoned, abused, or feral, stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by Volunt ...

Wings of Rescue, which relocates adoptable pets, on private planes, to no kill shelters and permanent homes. Simone also serves on the board of The Plantrician Project. Simone is of Italian descent and identifies as a Christian and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

. She likes

extreme sport Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are physical activity, activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly speci ...

s, including riding motorcycles and

skydiving Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

, and is an avid aerialist and target shooter. Simone resides in Los Angeles.

Filmography

* ''3rd Shift: Michael's Lament'' (2009) * ''Beg'' (2011) * ''

'' (2013) * ''

'' (2015) * ''

'' (2016) * ''

'' (2016) * ''Run the Race'' (2017) * '' I Can Only Imagine'' (2018) * '' Unbroken: Path to Redemption'' (2018) * ''

God Bless the Broken Road ''God Bless the Broken Road'' is a 2018 American Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk. A loose interpretation of the 1994 song "Bless the Broken Road," the plot follows a mother who loses her husband in the War in Afghanistan and must co ...

'' (2018)

Television

* '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (1 episode: "Gods & Insects",

season 9 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

, 2010) * ''

'' (1 episode: " Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner",

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

, 2011) * ''Hitting the Breaks'' (ten episodes, 2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simone, Gianna Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Boston Actresses from Los Angeles American Christians American female models American film actresses American people of Italian descent American producers American television actresses Bunker Hill Community College alumni People from Chelsea, Massachusetts People from East Boston People from Revere, Massachusetts 1989 births Boston Latin Academy alumni