Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/460267
FROM YALE TO HOLLYWOOD, JORDANA BREWSTER HAS CHARTED A COURSE FROM ACADEMIA TO SOAP OPERAS TO THE MEGASUCCESSFUL THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS FRANCHISE—AND INTO PARTS UNKNOWN. by jared bowen // photography by rené & radka // styling by gaelle paul W hen you consider that Jordana Brewster's ancestors arrived on the Mayf lower a nd t hat her g ra nd fat her wa s t he president of Ya le University (from which she graduated), it's a little easier to accept that this exquisitely sculpted beauty is actually a bit of a nerd. Long before she rocketed to fa me in t he Fast and the Furious f ilm fra n- chise, Brewster mapped out her career as any methodical middle-schooler would. "I was the lead in the school play, and I decided to prove to myself I can do this while still living under my parents' roof and being supported by them," she recalls with a laugh. "Who's so practical that young to figure that out? But I'm glad I did!" Born in Panama to a Brazilian supermodel mother and an A merican investment banker father, Brewster moved around the world with her family before finally settling in New York at age 10. "I thought [acting] is what I wanted to do because I just loved role-playing and fantasy." And just like her forebears, she enjoys discovery. It was 1620 when William Brewster sailed to the New World, helped to establish the Plymouth colony, and was granted land on the Boston Harbor islands that still bear the Brewster name. The colony's only university-educated member, he was a respected elder and became a close advisor to the governor. Four hundred years later, education remains paramount to the family. Brewster says her matriculation at the college where her grand- fat her K ing ma n Brewster Jr. wa s president for 14 yea rs in t he 19 60 s a nd '70 s seemed preordained, and her parents graciously gave her plenty of latitude in her Ivy League pur- suits. "I remember my dad saying, 'You know what? Explore. Just see what you enjoy and see what you like; that's what these four years are for.' That was such a luxury." By the time she reached New Haven, Brewster was already an established actress with a recurring role, Nikki Munson, on the television soap opera As the World Turns—a part she landed with one of her first auditions, when she was just 15. "The timing was great, because I feel like you have so much more g uts as a kid than you do as an adult," she says. "I'm glad I ventured into it early on." For Brewster, the frenetic schedule of a soap opera—producing an episode in just one day, as opposed to the seven or eight days required by a prime-time series—made the experi- ence like acting boot camp. "It was very rigorous," she says. "It was a great playground for exploring. You also get used to having a camera in your face, which is what a lot of per- formers struggle with—letting go of that self-consciousness." But nothing could prepare her for the global phenomenon that is The Fast and the Furious. The latest installment, Furious 7, hits theaters this spring, and no one is more surprised by the series' longevity and popularity than Brewster. The original film was released in 2001, with Brewster playing Mia, the grounded, good-girl love interest of Paul Walker's undercover police officer. "With the first one, I took a semester off from school, and I really had no idea [how successful it would be]. I was like, 'Oh, it's a movie about cars—whatever.' 82 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM