Education
Brewster studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York and graduated from the Professional Children's School in New York. She then attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in English.
Brewster studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York and graduated from the Professional Children's School in New York. She then attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in English.
Brewster made her debut in daytime soap operas, with a one-time appearance on All My Children as Anita Santos, followed by a recurring role on As the World Turns as Nikki Munson from 1995 to 2001. For her performance in the show, she was nominated for "Outstanding Teen Performer" at the 1997 Soap Opera Digest Awards.
Her first film role was in Robert Rodriguez's 1998 horror science fiction film, The Faculty. In the film, Brewster played the character of Delilah Profitt, a popular and vindictive girl who is the editor in chief of the student paper. The film received several favorable reviews and was a major success at the box office, grossing over $40 million domestically. Later, she was cast alongside Julia Stiles and Jerry O'Connell in a NBC television miniseries entitled The 60's, in which she appeared as Sarah Weinstock, a college student and radical activist. The miniseries premiered on February 7, 1999, in the United States and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
In 2001, she starred with Cameron Diaz and Christopher Eccleston in The Invisible Circus, a drama feature based on Jennifer Egan's best-selling novel. The film was not well received by critics,however, Brewster's performance was praised. Reviewer James Berardinelli stated that "The film's saving grace is the performance of Jordana Brewster (whose only previous significant screen credit was as one of the students in Robert Rodriquez's The Faculty), whose reading of Phoebe pulls as much depth from the character as Brooks' direction will allow. Phoebe's mixture of self-confidence, bewilderment, and vulnerability is entirely credible."
Brewster had her breakthrough role when she starred opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in the car-themed action film The Fast and the Furious, which was a box office hit (with an over $207 million worldwide gross) and received critical acclaim. Todd McCarthy of Variety.com stated that Brewster "is looking good and doing a better job here than she did as a searching teen in the recent The Invisible Circus." In 2004, she played one of the main characters in the action comedy D.E.B.S., as Lucy Diamond, a lesbian criminal mastermind who is the love interest of Sara Foster's character. She was cast in the 2005 independent teen drama film set in late 1970s, Nearing Grace. The film is based on the novel by Scott Sommer.
In 2006, Brewster released the drama film Annapolis. The film is about a young man who dreams of one day attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. That same year, she appeared in the high-profile horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which was released theatrically in October. In the film, she had the starring role of Chrissie. The Beginning was not well received by critics,however, grossed over $51 million worldwide,
becoming a modest hit. For her performance, Brewster was nominated for both "Choice Movie Actress: Horror" and "Choice Movie: Scream" at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards. Brewster appeared in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, but her scenes were deleted.
Brewster portrayed the role of Mrs. Smith, the role depicted in the film by Angelina Jolie, in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a spin-off pilot to the 2005 film of the same name which was made for the ABC network. However, ABC decided not to commission the series. She also joined the cast of the NBC television series Chuck, as a recurring character, Jill Roberts, Chuck's ex-girlfriend from Stanford. She has appeared in four episodes of the show between 2008 and 2009.
Brewster reprised the role of Mia Toretto in the fourth film of the The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast & Furious, which opened on April 3, 2009. The film had a big financial success, with a over $353 million worldwide gross. In an interview with AskMen.com, Brewster explained her character: "In the first one I’m more of a wallflower and it's much more of a girlfriend-type role, but in [the new movie] I’m more of a woman. She’s far more tough. I deal with the repercussions of living in my brother’s world."
In 2010, Brewster had multiple guest appearances in the television series Dark Blue, in which she played Maria, an art gallery dealer who flirts with Dean. She also guest appeared in the Gigantic episodes "Pilot: Part 1" and "Pilot: Part 2".
Brewster co-starred in the fifth film of the The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast Five. The film was released on April 29, 2011. The film told the story of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel's characters fighting against federal agents and a corrupt businessman. Filming of the movie began on June 28, 2010 in Rio de Janeiro and finished in October of that year. Fast Five opened to favorable reviews and has been a financial success, breaking box office records to become the highest grossing opening weekend in an April and the second highest opening weekend in Spring, earning $168 million.
Starting in 2012 Brewster will play the character Elena Ramos on the popular tv series Dallas which is returning to the air after a 21 years hiatus. The series aired from 1978 to 1991 on CBS. It will air on TNT starting in June 2012.