Jenna Dewan

Jenna Lee Dewan is an American actress and dancer born on December 3, 1980, in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Nancy Smith (née Bursch) and Darryll Dewan, a former running back for the 1972 Notre Dame football team. Her heritage includes Syrian-Lebanese, Polish, Cornish, German, and English descent. Dewan is best known for her leading role as Nora Clark in the 2006 dance film Step Up.

During her childhood, Dewan moved frequently and lived in seven cities prior to entering the seventh grade. She attended Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, Maryland, where she was a varsity cheerleader, before transferring to Grapevine High School in Texas. At Grapevine High School, she continued cheerleading and was voted prom queen in her senior year. She later attended the University of Southern California, where she joined the California Gamma chapter of Pi Beta Phi.

Dewan began her professional career as a backup dancer, debuting in Janet Jackson's 2000 music video for "Doesn't Really Matter." She subsequently appeared in Jackson's "All for You" video and performed on the 2001 All for You Tour. Dewan credited this experience with building her career, leading to work with musical artists such as Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. In 2016, she also modeled as the face of the dancewear manufacturer Danskin in a campaign highlighting her athleticism.

Her acting career expanded in 2006 when she co-starred in Step Up alongside Channing Tatum, as well as the drama Take the Lead. She later starred as Coach Emma Carr in the 2008 Lifetime television film Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal, followed by roles in the 2009 comedy American Virgin and the 2011 film The Jerk Theory. In 2011, she played Bunny Janie on the short-lived NBC series The Playboy Club. In 2012, Dewan appeared in the romantic comedy 10 Years and played Teresa Morrison in FX's American Horror Story: Asylum.

Dewan went on to portray Freya Beauchamp in Lifetime's Witches of East End from 2013 to 2014, and Lucy Lane in Supergirl and its spinoff Superman & Lois. Her television work also includes recurring roles on The Resident, starring as Joanna in Netflix's Soundtrack, and portraying Bailey Nune on ABC's The Rookie starting in 2021. Additionally, she hosted the reality series World of Dance and Flirty Dancing, served as a judge on Come Dance with Me, and starred in and executive produced the 2022 Lifetime film Let's Get Physical.

In business, Dewan co-founded the production company 33andOut Productions, which produced the 2010 documentary Earth Made of Glass and executive produced the Step Up television series. In her personal life, Dewan was married to actor Channing Tatum from July 2009 until their divorce was finalized in November 2019; they share a daughter born in 2013. She later became engaged to actor Steve Kazee, with whom she has a son born in 2020 and a daughter born in 2024.