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Briana Evigan

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Briana Evigan
Evigan at the premiere of Step Up 2: The Streets, 2008
Born (1986-10-23) October 23, 1986 (age 38)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materLos Angeles Valley College
Occupations
  • Actress
  • dancer
Years active1996–present
SpouseDamien Mander[1][2]
Children1[3]
ParentGreg Evigan (father)
RelativesJason Evigan (brother)
Vanessa Lee Evigan (sister)

Briana Evigan (born October 23, 1986) is an American actress and dancer best known for her roles in the Step Up series and for her scream queen roles in numerous horror films.[4] Born in Los Angeles, Evigan is the daughter of actor Greg Evigan and his wife Pamela, a dancer, model and choreographer. She began dancing and acting at a young age, graduating from Los Angeles Valley College with a degree in speech and communication.

Evigan began dancing professionally and appeared in numerous music videos, most notably "Numb" by Linkin Park (2003). She also started acting and had small roles in films such as Bottom's Up (2006) and television series such as Fear Itself (2008). She made her breakthrough when she appeared as Andrea "Andie" West in the dance film Step Up 2: The Streets (2008). She has since been noted as a Scream Queen for starring in numerous horror and thriller films, including S. Darko (2009), Sorority Row (2009), Burning Bright (2010), Mother's Day (2010), The Devil's Carnival (2012), Stash House (2012), Mine Games (2012), Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2016) and the second season of From Dusk till Dawn: The Series (2015).[5][6][7][8][9]

Early and personal life

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Evigan was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Pamela C. Serpe, a dancer, model and actress, and actor Greg Evigan.[10] She has Polish (from her paternal grandmother) and Italian (from her maternal grandfather) heritage.[11] She is the youngest of three siblings, with brother Jason and sister Vanessa.[10] She has studied dance since she was nine.[12] She is one of the singers and plays keyboards in the group Moorish Idol.[13] In October 2023 she married Damien Mander, with whom she has one child.

Career

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A professional dancer, Evigan has appeared in music videos for Linkin Park, Flo Rida, T-Pain and Enrique Iglesias. She has also had small roles in television series and films such as Bottom's Up, Something Sweet and Fear Itself.

In 2008, she won the breakout role of Andie West in the sequel to the 2006 dance drama Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets. Filming took place in late 2007 in Baltimore and was released February 14, 2008. The film, which met with negative reviews with Rotten Tomatoes (receiving 24%), achieved box office success earning a worldwide gross of $148,424,320. Both Evigan and co-star Robert Hoffman earned the Best Kiss Award at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards.

In 2009, S. Darko, a sequel to the 2001 cult-hit horror Donnie Darko, was released. Evigan played Samantha Darko's best friend, Corey. The film stars James Lafferty and Ed Westwick. A theatrical release was scrapped and was released Straight-to-DVD on May 12, 2009. Unlike Donnie Darko, the film received negative reviews.

In August 2008, Summit Entertainment announced Evigan has signed on to portray the central character Cassidy Tappan in the remake of the low-budget horror film Sorority Row. The screenplay was written by Good Luck Chuck writer Josh Stolberg and directed by Stewart Hendler. The film was budgeted at $12,500,000. Evigan stars alongside Audrina Patridge, Rumer Willis and Jamie Chung. Sorority Row was released on September 11, 2009, and debuted at No. 6 at the box office and earned worldwide $26,735,797. Critical reception was mixed to negative. Evigan's performance was well received by critics. The leading female cast members earned a ShoWest Award for "Female Stars of Tomorrow" in April 2009. The DVD release was February 23, 2010.

In January 2009, Evigan was confirmed by Lionsgate to star in Burning Bright. She plays the lead female role, Kelly Taylor. In the film, "A young woman and her autistic brother find themselves trapped in their house with a ravenous tiger during a hurricane". Critical reception was extremely positive. Despite this, the film was announced to be released Straight-to-DVD on August 17, 2010.[14]

In February 2009, Evigan announced in an interview she has signed on for another remake. The film will be a remake of the cult slasher horror film Mother's Day and will be directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, best known for his work with previous Lionsgate films such as the Saw trilogy. Bousman previously directed Evigan in an episode of Fear Itself in 2008. The film will co-star A. J. Cook and Jaime King. The film has suffered numerous push backs, and was finally released on May 8, 2012, on DVD and Blu-ray. The film was also part of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Evigan played the central character in the indie drama romance film Subject: I Love You.[15]

Evigan at the New York Comic Con, 2012

She stars in The Devil's Carnival, a short film that got a 30 city world tour that began on April 15, 2012.[16] Evigan later confirmed that she had reprised her role in its sequel, The Devil's Carnival: Alleluia!, which was released in late 2015.

In 2011, during a UStream, Evigan announced that she was working in a TV series with her family, though nothing has been confirmed yet. She was scheduled to star as the protagonist of Left for Red: Betrayal, the first of a trilogy which centered on a young woman seeking vengeance on the soldiers who sold her to a sex trafficking group, but has been shelved due to budget issues.

In 2014, Evigan reprised her role as Andie West in the fifth installment of the Step Up series, Step Up: All In. She was later cast in Love Is All You Need? as Jude, a heterosexual woman living in a world where homosexuality is right, and heterosexuality is the wrong.

In 2015, Evigan announced, via Twitter that she would be recurring, alongside Danny Trejo in the second season of the Action-Vampire TV Series From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series as Sonja, "an American expatriate working as a tattoo artist in a Mexican Mercado – who also has a sideline forging papers and passports out of her back room". The season premiered August 25, 2015, on El Rey.

In 2017, she joined director James Kicklighter's Angel of Anywhere, with co-stars David A. Gregory, Ser'Darius Blain and introducing Axel Roldos.[17][18][19]

In 2023 Evigan collaborated with Veldskoen Shoes, a South African shoe brand to create "MoveMe" Ranger boots.[20]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1996 Spectre Aubrey South also known as House of the Damned, Escape to Nowhere
2006 Bottoms Up High School Girl
2008 Step Up 2: The Streets Andrea "Andie" West
2009 S. Darko Corey Richardson
Sorority Row Cassidy Tappan
2010 Burning Bright Kelly Taylor
Mother's Day Annette Langston co-wrote, sang end credit song Better Than Yesterday
Monster Heroes Svector Orlaff
2011 Subject: I Love You Butterfly
2012 Rites of Passage Penelope
The Devil's Carnival Ms. Merrywood
Stash House Emma Nash
Mine Games Lyla
2013 She Loves Me Not Charlotte
2014 Puncture Wounds Tanya also known as A Certain Justice
Step Up: All In Andrea "Andie" West
Lap Dance Tasha
Paranormal Island Ivy
2016 Monday at 11:01 A.M. Olivia
ToY Chloe
Love Is All You Need? Jude Klein
The Devil's Carnival: Alleluia! Ms. Merrywood
2018 My Husband's Secret Wife Melanie
River Runs Red Marilyn

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2008 Fear Itself Helen Episode: "New Year's Day"
2012 A Star for Christmas Cassie Drake Television film (Ion)
2013 Longmire Brandy Episode: "Carcasses"
2015 From Dusk till Dawn: The Series Sonja Lam Recurring role; 8 episodes
2015 Once Upon a Holiday Katherine "Katie" Hollington Television film (Hallmark)
2017 The Good Nanny Summer Pratt Television film (Lifetime)

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
2003 "Numb"[21] Linkin Park
2008 "Low"[22] Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
"Push"[23] Enrique Iglesias featuring Lil Wayne
"Church"[24] T-Pain
"I Don't Think When I Dance"[25] Herself
2009 "Get U Home"[26][27] Shwayze
2018 "Give Me Your Hand" Shannon K
2020 "Never Alone" (Paul Oakenfold & Varun Remix) Emmanuel Kelly

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result Refs
2008 MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss (with Robert Hoffman) Step Up 2: The Streets Won [28]
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Breakout Female Step Up 2: The Streets Nominated
2009 Sho West Awards Female Star of Tomorrow (with Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung,
Audrina Patridge and Margo Harshman) 		Sorority Row Won
2016 FilmOut Audience Awards Best Actress ToY Won [29]
2023 Vegas Movie Awards Best Woman Filmmaker MoveMe South Africa Won [30]

References

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  1. ^ "Briana Evigan on Instagram".
  2. ^ "Damien Mander on Instagram".
  3. ^ "Briana Evigan on Instagram: "Best year of my life… I can't believe it's been a month with our son. The days keep getting better and better. I can't wait to find out what comes next. 🧡"".
  4. ^ "Today in History: October 23". The Associated Press. October 23, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  5. ^ "Hot 10: Briana Evigan". maxim.com. Maxim. May 5, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  6. ^ Leavengood, John. "The Scream Queens of Film: Briana Evigan". moviesfilmsandflix.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  7. ^ Hoare, Peter. "10 Hot Actresses Who Should Stop Doing Horror Movies". complex.com. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  8. ^ "Briana Evigan". listal.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  9. ^ Z., Jamie (October 23, 2014). "15 MOST SCREAM QUEEN FILLED FILMS". houseofgeekery.com. House of Geekery. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Virginia Rohan (March 9, 1999). "New sitcom's dad role is a familiar job for Greg Evigan". The Record.
  11. ^ brianaeviganfanchat (November 14, 2011). "Briana Evigan on UStream.tv – November 24, 2011". UStream. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  12. ^ BRIANA EVIGAN Interview at Dizzy Feet Foundation Dance Show November 29, 2009 on YouTube.
  13. ^ Moorish Idol at MySpace Music.
  14. ^ Michael Allen (August 15, 2010). "A Tiger is Burning Bright on DVD August 17th". 28dayslateranalysis.com. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  15. ^ Flisha. ""Subject: I Love You" Stars Jericho Rosales and Briana Evigan". randomdetox.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  16. ^ "Darren Bousman Opens The Devil's Carnival". Dread Central. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ "Angel of Anywhere". IMDb. January 6, 2018.
  19. ^ "Angel of Anywhere (2018) | Briana Evigan & Ser'Darius Blain".
  20. ^ Lifestyle, Aspire (February 9, 2023). "Hollywood's Briana Evigan, and local shoe company, Veldskoen join forces to create a social impact shoe". Aspire Lifestyle Magazine. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  21. ^ Numb | Linkin Park | Music Video | MTV
  22. ^ FLO Rida feat. T.Pain Music from the Movie Step Up 2 'Low' on YouTube.
  23. ^ Enrique Iglesias – Push ft. Lil Wayne on YouTube.
  24. ^ Video Clip T-Pain : Church at clipzik.com.
  25. ^ I Don't Think When I Dance at Sammy Smith's website
  26. ^ Shwayze – Get U Home on YouTube.
  27. ^ Eric Ditzian (August 28, 2009). "Shwayze Stages 'Hot, Sweaty, Sexy Dance Party' For 'Get U Home' Video". mtv.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2010..
  28. ^ "MTV Movie Awards 2008". mtv.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  29. ^ "FilmOut 2016 Festival and Audience Awards results". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. June 20, 2016. Archived from the original on October 7, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  30. ^ "August 2023 Edition".
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