Julia Jones (born January 23, 1981) is an American actress. She may be best known for playing Leah Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'' film series and

Angela Bishop Angela Bishop (born 6 September 1967) is an Australian reporter and television presenter who presents the national news bulletin ''10 News First: Midday'', as well as ''10 News First: Afternoons'' and was a co-host and the entertainment prese ...

in the television series '' Dexter: New Blood''.

Early life and education

Julia Jones was born in

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 ...

, to Frank Jones and Penny Wells. She has a younger brother named Cody. She has stated that her mother is of English descent, and that her father "is part Choctaw, Chickasaw, and African-American". She was raised in the

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...

neighborhood of Boston, and frequented the first JP Licks ice cream store, which was close to her home. Jones studied at Boston Ballet School from the age of 4. She began working in commercials and local theatre when she was eight. In 1999, Jones graduated from

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

, the oldest public school in the United States. She subsequently attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

where she earned her bachelor's degree in English in 2005.

Career

Jones has modeled in catalogues for Levi Strauss & Co., Gap Inc., Esprit Holdings, and

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

. She appeared in Chuck Wicks's music video for "Hold That Thought". Jones appeared in a number of independent films before being cast in the

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

-produced biker remake '' Hell Ride'', which premiered at Sundance in 2008. She played Dr. Kaya Montoya on '' ER'' in its final two seasons. In 2009, she appeared in the Culture Clash play ''Palestine, New Mexico'', at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In 2010, Jones was cast in ''

Jonah Hex Jonah Woodson Hex is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is scarred on the r ...

'' and in the last three installments of '' The Twilight Saga''. In 2015, she played the female lead opposite

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

in '' The Ridiculous 6'' and Gab on the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Longmire''. She guest starred on the 2019

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series '' The Mandalorian'' in the episode " Chapter 4: Sanctuary". She portrayed Chafa, the first Choctaw, in the 2024 miniseries ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

* (2004) FAITA Award for Best Actress for '' Black Cloud''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Julia 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Boston American film actresses American television actresses American people of English descent Boston Latin School alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Living people 1981 births American people who self-identify as being of Choctaw descent American people who self-identify as being of Chickasaw descent