| Name |
Karen Shenaz David |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
Canadian-English |
| Date of Birth |
15-April-1979 |
| Place of Birth |
Shillong, India |
| Famous for |
Acting |
Karen Shenaz David was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, in northeastern India, is a Canadian-British actress, singer and songwriter, who is best known for portraying Francesca "Cesca" Montoya in the BBC television series, Waterloo Road, and Layla in the American action film, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.
At age 17, David won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston where she studied jazz and gospel. It was here that she discovered a flair for songwriting. A few years later, David moved to London to study at the Guildford School of Acting. At age 20, upon finishing drama school, Benny Andersson immediately asked David to join the original cast of Mamma Mia! (a West End hit musical). This was her professional acting debut as part of the ‘glorified ensemble’ and understudy of Ali and Lisa. A. R. Rahman was invited to see the show by the director Shekhar Kapur, which then opened new doors for David. He asked her to assist himself and Don Black in the development of the material for Bombay Dreams (a Bollywood-themed musical). She was rewarded with an invitation to perform some of the songs on stage in his highly acclaimed sell-out US and Canada tour. This was the beginning of a strong friendship which lead to them writing and recording a wide range of material together at his Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios in Chennai, India.
In 2003, David made a one-off guest appearance on Holby City "Oedipus Wrecks" as Eve Hotton, an underweight pregnant woman, who went into labour so David had to act out the breaking of her waters and the pushing out of the baby. Through the years of 2004 and 2005, she landed the role of Scarlet in MTV's Top Buzzer, also on Channel 5. This was the first ‘dope opera’ produced and consisted of ten episodes.
