Leah Lewis (born December 9, 1996) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Georgia "George" Fan in

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

series adaptation of ''

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, video games, and TV shows as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudo ...

'' (2019–2023) and Ellie Chu in 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 ...

comedy-drama film '' The Half of It'' (2020). She also starred in a lead voice role as Ember Lumen in the

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

animated film ''

Elemental An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsu ...

'' (2023) and as attorney Sarah in the legal drama series '' Matlock'' (2024–present).

Early life and education

Lewis was adopted from an orphanage in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

when she was six months old and raised in

Windermere, Florida Windermere is a town in Orange County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,030. It is part of the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office opened in Windermere in 1888. The post office ...

. Her younger, non-biologically related sister, Lydia, was later adopted from the same orphanage. Their parents, Frederick and Lorraine Lewis, are both realtors. Leah discovered performing arts at Crenshaw School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. She attended Thornebrooke Elementary School in

Ocoee, Florida Ocoee () is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 US Census, the city had a population of 47,295. History Founding and ea ...

and Southwest Middle School in Orlando. She and her mother moved back and forth between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

during her teen years. At 17, she went back to Orlando to finish high school at Olympia High School and then moved back to Los Angeles by herself at 20 in 2016.

Career

At a young age, Lewis started acting in commercials. Once her family moved to Los Angeles, she acted in the 2012 Nickelodeon film, '' Fred 3: Camp Fred'' as the character Spoon. In 2013, she auditioned for

the fourth season ''The Fourth Season'' is the fourth album by the Australian progressive metal band Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point (geometry), point on the projection plane, image plane of a graphical perspective, perspective rendering where th ...

of '' The Voice,'' singing "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood. None of the coaches turned their chairs, meaning that she did not make it onto the show. In 2015 and 2016, she was featured in the Disney shows ''

Best Friends Whenever ''Best Friends Whenever'' is an American comedy television series created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas that premiered on Disney Channel on June 26, 2015. Its final episode aired on December 11, 2016, after two seasons. The series stars Land ...

'' and ''

Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything ''Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything'' is an American comedy television series created by Devin Bunje and Nick Stanton that aired on Disney XD from July 22, 2015 to January 2, 2017. The series stars Cameron Boyce, Murray Wyatt Rundus, Felix ...

.'' She also was a main character on season 2 of the

Michelle Trachtenberg Michelle Christine Trachtenberg (October 11, 1985 – February 26, 2025) was an American actress. After beginning her career in television commercials at age three, she made her television debut in her first credited role on the Nickelodeon ser ...

-produced

Go90 go90 was an American Internet television service and mobile app owned and operated by Verizon Communications. The service was positioned as a mobile-oriented "social entertainment platform" targeted primarily towards millennials, featuring a ...

web series, ''

Guidance Guidance may refer to: Arts and media * Guidance (album), ''Guidance'' (album), by American instrumental rock band Russian Circles * Guidance (film), ''Guidance'' (film), a Canadian comedy film released in 2014 * Guidance (web series), ''Guidance ...

''. Once she moved back to Los Angeles after graduating from high school, she began booking roles in TV shows like ''

Station 19 ''Station 19'' is an American action and procedural drama television series created by Stacy McKee that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on March 22, 2018. It is the second spin-off of ''Grey's Anatomy'' (after '' Private Pr ...

'' and '' The Good Doctor''. She had a recurring role in

series ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

.'' She then later joined the main cast of another The CW show, a 2019 TV adaptation of ''

'' on which she plays Georgia "George" Fan, based on the original character George Fayne. Her first major film role was as the lead character, Ellie Chu, in the 2020

film, '' The Half of It''. She starred alongside

Mamoudou Athie Mamoudou Athie ( ; born 1988) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the feature films '' Uncorked'' and ''Black Box'', and had the leading role in the Netflix horror series '' Archive 81'' (2022). He has also had support ...

in the 2023

animated film ''

'' directed by

Peter Sohn Peter Sohn (born October 18, 1977) is an American filmmaker, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for his work at Pixar, including directing the short film '' Partly Cloudy'' (2009) and the feature films ''The Good Dinos ...

, which she voiced the character Ember Lumen in her main role of the film. In 2024 she was cast as Räv in

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

's animated film '' The Tiger's Apprentice''.

Personal life

Beyond acting, Lewis sings, plays guitar, and does photography. In May 2016, she began dating singer and actor Payson Lewis.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Leah 1996 births Living people Actresses from Florida Actresses from Shanghai American adoptees American film actresses American television actresses American web series actresses Chinese emigrants to the United States People from Orange County, Florida 21st-century American actresses American actresses of Chinese descent