Charlotte Ayanna
Born
Charlotte Lopez

(1976-09-25) September 25, 1976
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Other namesCharlotte Roldan
Occupation(s)Actress, beauty queen
Beauty pageant titleholder
TitleMiss Vermont Teen USA 1993
Miss Teen USA 1993
Years active1995–2010
Hair colorBrown

Charlotte Ayanna (born Charlotte Lopez; September 25, 1976) is a Puerto Rican-American actress, author and beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 1993.

Early life

Ayanna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to Vermont at an early age. She had a troubled childhood, spending sixteen years in foster homes after her mother, Emma, was judged to be mentally unfit to look after her children.[1] In 1994, at age 17, she was adopted into a foster home.[2][3] She has since become a spokeswoman for foster children.

Education

Attended the University of California, Irvine.[4]

Career

Her first national exposure was in 1993, when she became Miss Teen USA.[5] Charlotte co-authored a book titled Lost in the System, published in 1996, detailing her childhood and subsequent rise to Miss Teen USA. She later changed her last name to "Ayanna", meaning "blessed" in Cherokee.[6]

Following her pageant victory, she made guest appearances on television shows including Weird Science and Entourage. She also appeared in the music video for fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martín's hit She's All I Ever Had. She also starred opposite Martin Freeman in the Parisian band, Ilya's music video, Bellissima.

Her film roles include Jawbreaker (1999), The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000), Kate & Leopold (2001), Training Day (as Ethan Hawke's wife), and Love the Hard Way (2003) with Adrien Brody. She also starred with Sean Patrick Flanery as the sexy vampiress in the horror-made-for-DVD movie The Insatiable (2007).[7]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Trojan War Nina
1998 Telling You Allison Fazio
1999 Jawbreaker Elizabeth "Liz" Purr
1999 The Rage: Carrie 2 Tracy
2000 Dancing at the Blue Iguana Jessie
2001 Stealing Time Samantha "Sam" Parkes a.k.a. Rennie's Landing
2001 Love the Hard Way Claire Harrison
2001 Training Day Lisa
2001 Kate & Leopold Patrice
2002 Spun Amy
2005 Once Upon a Wedding Margarita
2006 Push Lisa
2006 The Push Macey
2006 No. 6 Mila Short film
2006 The Insatiable Tatiana
2010 Errand boy Candi Short film
2010 Rain from Stars Nora

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1995 Weird Science Annie Episode: "Dead Can Dance"
1996 Weird Science Jessie
Wendy		 Episode: "Puppet Love"
Episode: "Phantom Scampi"
1996 Beverly Hills, 90210 Beth Rawlings Episode: "Here We Go Again"
1996 The Steve Harvey Show Jody Episode: "Pool Sharks Git Bit"
1996-1997 The Secret World of Alex Mack Hannah Mercury 2 episodes
1998 Profiler Kristen Episode: "Cravings"
2004 Entourage Joanne Episode: "Date Night"

Awards and nominations

In 2002 she won the Best Actress award at the Valenciennes International Festival of Action and Adventure Films for Love the Hard Way (2001) tied with Kajol for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001).

See also

Further reading

  • Lopez, Charlotte (1996). Lost in the System. Fireside. ISBN 978-0-684-81199-4.

References

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