FAST FACTS
Name: Amber Dawn Stevens
Born: October 7, 1986, in Los Angeles
Filmography: The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), 22 Jump Street (2014)
1. FOXY FEMME
If you find the pretty lass who makes out with Jonah Hill in 22 Jump Street - now showing in cinemas - a tad familiar, it's because she began her showbiz career with parts in TV series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Grey's Anatomy and How I Met Your Mother before scoring a lead role in comedy series Greek.
2. MAKING THE JUMP
The 27-year-old model-turned-actress is enjoying her big-screen break in 22 Jump Street as Maya, a college art student who has a fling with Schmidt (Hill) after they connect at a poetry slam event at a campus coffeehouse.
Playing Hill's love interest in the action-comedy sequel - which sees policemen Schmidt and Jenko (Channing Tatum) going undercover as college students to bust a drug ring - meant Stevens received considerable screentime. She told lifestyle website SheKnows that working on 22 Jump Street was a "great whirlwind".
3. KISS AND TELL
Working with Hill meant lots of bellyaches from laughing.
"There were so many times when we were like, 'Give us a second, we've got to get the giggles out', because this is so silly," Stevens told Lucky magazine.
Laughing matters aside, Stevens told SheKnows that Hill "is pretty good at making out" and rated him a 10. But, she added, the romantic scenes were inevitably awkward at first and they did "more than four takes" to nail them.
4. ICE, ICE BABY
Stevens also got to spend much time on set with US rapper-actor Ice Cube, who plays Maya's father and Schmidt's detective boss Captain Dickson.
"He's going to hate me for saying this, but he's a teddy bear," she said. "I thought he'd be intimidating, but he's not. He's calm, friendly and gracious to everyone in the room; he's very prepared and respectful of other people's time. I just love him."
5. TELLY'S TOPS
Even though Stevens hopes that 22 Jump Street "would open more doors", she still prefers working on the small screen. She told entertainment website Black Film: "What I love most is television and I would love to work on a sitcom. I think the idea of doing a live audience taped show every week and just the rush of that would be a dream."
joannes@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on June 25, 2014.
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