Interview Those Girls Are Wild

Andrea’s artistic talents emerged at age 5 and now this Toronto-born singer, songwriter and actor has fashioned a career not only out of her sexy, sultry and soulful voice but also from her chameleon like acting abilities which have landed her movie roles alongside Hollywood legend Diahann Carroll in the Natalie Cole Story. Andrea co-starred with Alfre Woodard and Wesley Snipes in the critically acclaimed movie Down in the Delta directed by world-renowned poet Maya Angelou. And she starred alongside Hilary Duff in the Disney movie Cadet Kelly. Andrea graduated after five seasons from starring as the go-to girl Hazel in the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation and took on another lead role on Moccasin Flats III as Melisa, a soul-singer, caught up in a love-triangle, featuring songs from her debut album Float Away. She’s also starring in the up-coming Nickelodeon comedy musical Spectacular as Robin airing February 16th 2009.

Penning her own lyrics since age 12, Andrea co-wrote her entire album, the result is a pop R&B album with an old-school twist, brimming with songs that offer a candid window into her own experiences of love, heartbreak and self image, in the hopes of touching a chord with her audience. While Andrea may have an old soul from her dad exposing her to Otis Redding, Gladys Knight, Betty Wright, Curtis Mayfield and the Supremes. At a very young age, Andrea mimicked Queen of Motown Diana Ross, right down to her larger-than-life hairdo; and while other eight-year-olds in talent competitions trotted out songs from the Little Mermaid, Andrea belted out Betty Wright and Whitney Houston ballads and now Andrea is in her glory working with her inspiration, Ms. Wright, on her upcoming album. Her debut video for Superwoman aired on MuchMusic, MTV and garnered a nomination for Best Indie Video at the 2005 Canadian Music Awards.

This multi-talented young lady knows how to juggle acting, singing and songwriting and took on the lead role in Dreamgirls as Lorrell. She is also in the midst of writing scripts for film/tv. But aside from recording her debut album Float Away, Andrea has garnered international attention from Degrassi and Cadet Kelly which landed her in the pages of Teen People; New York Times; Entertainment Weekly magazines and featured on MTV Cribs. And Andrea is well-known for giving back to the community, whether it’s participating in charity events, World AIDS Day, YWCA and UNICEF campaigns or hanging out with underprivileged youth. Not your average girl? Andrea begs to differ. “I’m the same Andrea I always was and don’t consider myself any different from other teens…when I come home, I still have to shovel my driveway when it snows!”

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