Laya Lewis

{{Infobox person

| name = Laya Lewis

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1992|5|14|df=y}}

| birth_name = Laya Aiesha Lewis

| birth_place = Tooting, London, England

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 2010–present

| known_for = Skins

}}

Laya Aiesha Lewis (born 14 May 1992) is an English actress, best known for her role as Liv Malone in the fifth and sixth series of the E4 drama Skins (2011–2012).

Early life

Laya Lewis was born at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London, but grew up in Bristol. Her mother was born in Britain to Jamaican parents who moved to England in the 1960s as part of the Windrush generation. She studied at Fairfield Secondary School and then 6th Form at Cotham School.{{Cite news | title=Interview: Laya Lewis | url=http://www.thenationalstudent.com/TV/2012-01-22/Interview__Laya_Lewis_Skins.html | newspaper=The National Student | location=Liverpool | first=Aimee | last=Swift | date=22 January 2012 | accessdate=21 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228043718/http://www.thenationalstudent.com/TV/2012-01-22/Interview__Laya_Lewis_Skins.html | archive-date=28 February 2012 | url-status=dead }}

Career

While in sixth form Lewis made her television debut in the fifth series of E4's teen drama Skins,[http://www.channel4.com/info/press/press-packs/laya-lewis-plays-liv/ Laya Lewis plays Liv]. Channel 4. which started on 27 January 2011. She gained the role of Liv Malone through open auditions in Bristol. Members of the show's production team visited some of the local schools and she was asked to attend an audition.[https://archive.today/20120723082633/http://screenterrier.blogspot.com/search/label/Laya%20Lewis/ Screenterrier: Skins Season 5 - Meet Laya Lewis] At the age of 16 she auditioned for the second generation of Skins, however when she arrived she decided not to participate.{{Cite news|url=http://www.pyromag.com/entertainment/18504/skins-cast-interviews-laya-lewis-freya-mavor-sam-jackson/|title=Skins cast interview|newspaper=pyromag|accessdate=15 May 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130131201349/http://www.pyromag.com/entertainment/18504/skins-cast-interviews-laya-lewis-freya-mavor-sam-jackson/|archivedate=31 January 2013|df=dmy-all}}

In April 2012, Lewis starred in Emeli Sandé's music video "My Kind of Love", directed by Dawn Shadforth. It recounts the story of the ambiguous relationship of two female characters, and how the younger girl, played by Lewis, lives with cancer.{{Cite news |url=http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/74012/Emeli-Sandes-New-Video-Inspired-By-Hospital-Patients-|title=Emeli Sandé New Video|newspaper =Entertainment Wise|accessdate=21 April 2012|date=20 April 2012}} In 2013 she filmed The Line, a short movie written and directed by BAFTA nominated Faye Gilbert about a teenage girl and young boy running for their lives in a futuristic world.{{Cite news | title = BFI shorts | url =http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/news/bfi-shorts-update-part-5| newspaper = Lighthouse|date=18 July 2013 | accessdate=15 October 2013}} Next Lewis will play the lead role of Beverly in Beverley, a short film produced by Cass Pennant telling the true story of a mixed-race girl growing up in the city of Leicester in the 1980s.{{Cite news|title=Vicky McClure and Laya Lewis to star in 1980s film set in Leicester|url=http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Vicky-McClure-Laya-Lewis-star-1980s-film-set/story-20798138-detail/story.html|newspaper=Leicester Mercury|date=12 March 2014|accessdate=9 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503101154/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Vicky-McClure-Laya-Lewis-star-1980s-film-set/story-20798138-detail/story.html|archive-date=3 May 2014|url-status=dead}}

Laya once provided the idents for BBC Radio 1 Breakfast show with Nick Grimshaw.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} She has since continued to do VO work.

She won the BBC award for up and coming artist at the British Urban Film Festival.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Filmography

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" \|+ style="text-align:left\|Film and Television ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
2011–2012	Skins	Liv Malone	E4 TV series (18 episodes)
2013	The Line		Short film
rowspan=2\| 2014	Beverley	Beverly	Short film alongside Vicky McClure
Cuckoo	Potato Girl	BBC Three TV series (1 episode No.2.2 Potato Party)
2015	Jekyll and Hyde	Cara	ITV TV series (2 episodes)
rowspan=2 \|2016	Witless	Claudia	BBC Three TV series (1 episode No.1.1)
Coyotes	Amber	Short film
2019	Bored	Naomi	Television film
2021	Temple	Hairstylist	Season 2, Episode 1
2023	Queen Cleopatra	Eiras	Television miniseries

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" \|+ style="text-align:left\|Music Videos
Year ! Song ! Artist ! Director
2012 \| My Kind of Love \| Emeli Sandé \| Dawn Shadforth

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

|+ style="text-align:left|Music Videos

Year

! Song

! Artist

! Director

2012

| My Kind of Love

| Emeli Sandé

| Dawn Shadforth