Once upon a time, Jane Levy had to attend an audition in New York but she was out of undies, so she decided to wear her jeans without any underwear. After the audition, she realized that her fly was unzipped all along. According to the American actress, it was a hilarious and horrific audition but thankfully, she got the part.
A versatile actress admired for her works across many genres, Jane was on the path of becoming a professional soccer player before she ditched it for acting. There are more intriguing facts to learn about the Shameless actress as you will find below.
5 Facts to Know About Jane Levy
1. She began acting as a kid
Named Jane Colburn Levy after she was born on the 29th of December 1989, the actress known for her role in Shameless began acting when she was a kid. It is said that she played a role in a musical titled Oklahoma when she was 7 years old.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Jane was raised in a cultured and small family that resided in San Anselmo. Mary Tilbury, her English mother with roots that have been traced to Scotland and Ireland is an artist and a florist whereas her Jewish father Lester Levy is a mediator.
Jane was a student of Sir Francis Drake High School where she captained the soccer team. In addition to that, she was part of the school’s hip-hop dancing team and was featured in a community theater production of Annie and The Wizard of Oz.
2. Jane Levy almost became a professional soccer player
After the actress was done with high school, she moved on to the private liberal arts college in Baltimore, Maryland to further her education. But then, her time at Goucher College was very brief, lasting for only a semester.
While there, she played for the school’s Division III soccer team. Leaving Goucher, Jane embraced the acting school founded by actress Stella Adler. She spent a year and a half at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. Following her graduation from the conservatory, Jane moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in acting.
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3. Breakthrough and the works that made her famous
Jane has a natural aptness for the acting craft, so it was only ideal she didn’t wait for long to land her breakthrough. It came with her screen debut which had her play the recurring role of Mandy Milkovich in 5 episodes of Shameless. If being Mandy Milkovich brought her to the limelight, playing Tessa Altman in Suburgatory from 2011 to 2014 shot her to the skies. Jane Levy hasn’t slowed down since then, she has been a part of various projects in the big and small screen.
Most recently on television, she played Diane “Jackie” Torrance, Lisa Donovan, and Zoey Clarke respectively in Castle Rock (2018), What/If (2019), and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2020). In 2017, she played Elizabeth in Twin Peaks, Min in Sea Oak, and Joy Greenfield in There’s… Johnny! The rest of her TV projects to the best of our knowledge are Kroll Show (2014) and Swedish Dicks (2016).
Her popular movies include two horror films that Fede Alvarez directed: Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016). Jane made her film debut in 2012 as Caroline in Nobody Walks, she also portrayed April Martin-Danzinger-Ross that same year in Fun Size. You will find her in other popular films like The Pretenders and Office Uprising (2018); Bang Bang Baby and About Alex (2014); Monster Trucks (2016), I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017), and a few others.
4. She was named in Forbes 30 under 30 Entertainment’s List of 2011
Jane Levy was 22 when she got this recognition that is widely coveted. But many years later, she trivialized the recognition; retweeting a sentiment of Melissa Hunter as shown below.
At the end of 2020, instead of 30 Under 30 and NextGen lists, please profile middle-aged people who just got their big breaks. I want to read about a mother of 2 who published her first novel, a director who released their first studio feature at 47, THAT'S THE LIST WE WANT.
— Melissa Hunter (@himelissahunter) January 7, 2020
5. The actress had one of the shortest marriages in Hollywood
She got married to actor Jamie Freitas on the 3rd of March 2011. A few months later, precisely on the 31st of October 2011, they parted ways with Jane filing for divorce in April 2013 due to irreconcilable differences.
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The Real Reason Jane Levy Left Shameless
Due to Jane’s remarkable portrayal of Mandy Milkovich in Shameless and the buzz it generated, fans of the show have been wondering why she left the Showtime comedy-drama series. The reason isn’t far-fetched: she left because she landed a lead role on ABC’s sitcom, Suburgatory.
Following her departure, Emma Greenwell was hired to take over the role. She played Mandy until the sixth season when the character was written off the show.
