Jaime

Name: Jaime Ray Newman
Date of Birth: April 02, 1978
Place of Birth: Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA
Height: 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Hair: Red
Eyes: Hazel 		001. Biography
002. Quotes
003. Trivia

Biography

Jaime Ray Newman was born in Farmington Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, on April 02, 1978. She started performing at age 11 in the debut of Israel Horovitz’s play, A Rosen by Any Other Name. She worked consistently around Detroit, acting in many of the regional theaters. At 16, while attending the Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills (also the alma mater of actress Selma Blair), Newman founded Apollo Theatre Productions. Acting as producer, she was able to put up shows by renting out a theater, employing professional actors, and hiring a well-known local director or directing the shows herself.

After high school, Newman attended Boston University School for the Arts theater conservatory for two years before enrolling at Northwestern University for a degree in English and Drama. While at Northwestern, she continued her dedication to theater as she founded the Ignition Festival for Women in the Arts. It was also during that time that she discovered her passion for jazz music. Joining several bands such as the popular funk band Sweet Sweet Candy, as well as her own, Jaime landed singing gigs in Chicago clubs before she graduated in June 2000. In September 2000, she followed her family to Los Angeles in pursuit of a professional acting career. While she was still finding her way in the acting industry, Jamie kept performing in LA, this time with her jazz sextet,The Jaime Newman Jazz Band.

In 2001, she appeared in an episode of The Drew Carey Show followed by small roles in some films including the Leonardo DiCaprio-led Catch Me If You Can (2002). Her big break came in 2001 as she was tapped to play a member of the aristocratic Cassadine family on General Hospital. Jamie’s other notable recurring roles on television include playing Lt. Laura Cadman on Stargate Atlantis, Natalie Hughes on E-Ring, and Mindy O’Dell on Veronica Mars. In 2009, aside from working in several episodes of the FOX psychiatry-based drama Mental and recurring as Dr. Tess Fontana, the love interest of Sheriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) on Eureka, Newman also had the privilege of being the first to be chosen as one of the three witches for ABC’s fantasy comedy Eastwick, alongside Rebecca Romijn and Lindsay Price.

Quotes

In this business, you have to enjoy the process because if you pin your self-worth on the outcome, you’re screwed.

As an actress. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to meet people who are inspiring and aren’t afraid to creatively stretch themselves… So for me, the best part about this job is watching others who are really free within their craft and sharing in that creative energy.

I come from a theater background, and onstage there’s a real freedom. You can do whatever you want, within the confines of the character you’ve created, of course. Every night can be different and you don’t have to be worried about hitting your mark, being lit in a certain way, etc.

If I could have any magical power, it would be teleportation. It really is a brilliant idea. You don’t have to worry about texting while you’re driving. You never have to get a ticket. If you could just snap your fingers and be in Paris, can you imagine the dates that you could go on? It would be amazing!

(on taking on the role of Michelle Pfeiffer for the TV adaptation of “Eastwick”) How do you step into Michelle Pfeiffer’s shoes? You know, it’s like, I was definitely kind of overwhelmed when I got this job knowing that that’s my predecessor.

I did my first professional play when I was 12. A local theater came to my middle school to audition girls for a new Israel Horowitz play, and I got the gig. My parents first reaction was ‘There are two people in this household with careers and you’re not one of them’. But after much begging, they acquiesced, and away I went.

(in a 2009 interview) I love romantic comedies, but I also love small indie dramas. I’d love to produce one at some point, and actually have something in the works right now. Small budgets don’t scare me, I think they free you up to take risks and throw rules and regulations to the wind. And dream role? Anything far from myself — accents, different time periods, etc. What’s the fun of acting if you can’t stretch your imagination wide?

(comparing work on “Eastwick” and “Eureka”) Eureka was definitely a male-centric show, but there are powerful, strong women on that series as well. It was a really easy transition for me. There were a lot of effects on Eureka, and we were working 16 hours every single day. So this is kind of a similar genre in that sense. But I am so grateful we’re in L.A., because Eureka’s in Vancouver. I like being home.

I loved the science of Eureka. It was kind of an education in and of itself. Joe Morton was kind of our local scientist. He was our local encyclopedia. We’d always come to him, so I learned a lot on it.

(on what she thinks of the “Stargate” shows) Didn’t really know anything about them, but got a quick education while on set. They are great genre shows, really well executed, and fun to do. I like sci-fi a lot!

(on her best memory on the “Stargate Atlantis” set) Learning to shoot the big gun! They took an afternoon to train me, but it never made it in the scene. It was incredibly fun to learn about though.

(about working on the “Stargate Atlantis” set) Everyone is so generous and open. After a day working together it felt like family. I spent a lot of time with David Hewlett, Paul McGillion, and the writer Martin Gero. They made me feel right at home, and showed me Vancouver as well. Everyone really seems to get along and have respect for each other on the set. It was very easy going, yet the work ethic high. A great combination.

Trivia

• She has a little poodle mix named Daphne, whom she rescued from an animal organization called Hope for Paws.

• She considers Julianne Moore as the celebrity she finds most beautiful and New York City as the city she loves the most.

• She attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan where she won the Corson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting.

• Jamie Ray Newman once hosted Studio M Country based in Los Angeles, California. Studio M is an independent music video and entertainment network which plays a wide range of music videos from various genres.

• In 2007, Newman landed major roles in two Fall Season pilots — one was the title role in CW’s political drama I Am Paige Armstrong and the other as the recurring character Tracy Faye in the ABC private investigator drama Marlowe. Neither of the shows were picked up by the respective networks.

• During her stay at Northwestern University, Jamie produced and performed in How I Learned to Drive, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Paula Vogel.

• Newman is a fan of the former US Vice President Al Gore.

• It was Jamie’s boyfriend who originally tried out for a part in the CW drama pilot I Am Paige Armstrong. After reading the script herself, she went on to audition and won the title beating out hundreds of other actresses who auditioned.

• Jaime and her funk/soul/rock band School Boy Crush have played at various clubs in and around Los Angeles, California.

• In 1997, she made her first onscreen appearance playing Bo in the action thriller Full Blast, starring the late David Carradine.

• She is cousin of actor Ben Kurland.

• When she was six years old, Jaime used to sing at Bar Mitzvah parties.

• When the actress originally cast as Tina in the “The Warsaw Closes” (2001) episode of The Drew Carey Show could not be reached, Jaime was pulled in to take her place by the casting director, for whom she worked as an intern.

• An autographed mixed-media portrait of Jamie Ray Newman was done by artist Tim Sabatino. The original was priced at $15,000.00 while limited edition reproductions can be bought for $1,500.00.

&bull Like actresses Selma Blair and Elizabeth Berkley, she attended Cranbrook Kingswood High School in Bloomfield, Michigan.

• While she was in high school, Newman topped the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association state-wide dramatic competition for three consecutive years.

• Also a very good singer, Jamie once performed alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic in “First Nights-Beethoven” at the Disney Concert Hall.

• In 2003, Jaime starred as the only female cast member alongside David Schwimmer and Jonathan Silverman in the premiere of Turnaround by Roger Kumble. The critically-acclaimed Hollywood satire sold out for almost four months.