Joanna Garcia

Joanna Leanna García (born August 10, 1979) is an American television and film actress. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery on The CW sitcom Reba, her leading role as Hope on the short-lived series, Welcome to the Captain, and as Megan on the new CW drama Privileged.

 

García, was born in Tampa, Florida, where she was raised by her mother Lorraine, a Spanish-American homemaker and former elementary schoolteacher, and her father, Cuban Jay García, a gynecologist.^[1][2][3][4] She has one brother, Michael García. She first started performing at the age of 10 when she auditioned for a local theater production and landed the lead. Her parents put school first and she continued to feed her passion by acting in local plays. She was the homecoming queen^[4] at Florida's Tampa Catholic High School.^[3]

In high school, she was discovered by Nickelodeon and starred for two seasons as Samantha on Are You Afraid of the Dark?. She had to commute from Florida to Montreal, Canada, where the show was filmed. She then attended Florida State University for a year before dropping out to pursuing acting full-time. García is a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.

 

 

While in Florida, García guest starred in seaQuest DSV, Second Noah and Superboy and several movies of the week.^[3]

After leaving college, García moved to Los Angeles, California. She was cast in a recurring role on the acclaimed drama series Party of Five, playing the character Hallie. She had a recurring role on Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) portraying the character of Vicki Appleby the popular freshman cheerleader who spent seven minutes in heaven with the ultimate geek, Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr).^[3] She has also appeared on Family Law, Providence, Dawson's Creek and, while guest-starring on Opposite Sex, became close friends with Allison Mack, who later would star on The WB's Smallville. The character she played on Boston Public was caught performing oral sex in the school hallway in an effort to influence a school election. She also guest starred on the show "What I Like About You" as Ben's secret wife.^[3]

García went on to portray the character of Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery, Reba's (Reba McEntire) oldest daughter on The CW sitcom Reba (2001-2007). Most recently, she was featured on the CBS comedy Welcome to the Captain. In Fall of 2008, she began her role starring as Megan Smith in the new CW series Privileged (originally known as How to Survive the Filthy Rich). On the big screen, García was seen in the feature comedy sequel American Pie 2 and the comedy spoof Not Another Teen Movie.^[3] She has also appeared in the original television movies From the Earth to the Moon (1998) and Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder (1997). She also appeared in the ABC Family original movie The Initiation of Sarah, which premiered in October 2006. She was in Reba McEntire's music video "Every Other Weekend" with Reba costar Steve Howey. She is also to appear in the 2008 movie "A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride," playing Roxanne.

 

García speaks Spanish fluently.^[4]When she's not working, García, who currently resides in Los Angeles, volunteers teaching English as a second language to children in Los Angeles, California. She is also involved with the organization "Make the Commitment", whose purpose is to raise awareness about cervical cancer.^[5][6][7] She also has an organization called "We Reach".^[4] The goal of this charity is to assemble an advisory board in the entertainment industry to work with girls around the country to organize charity events in their hometowns. The charity also has the goal of empowering young women.

García dated tennis doubles star Bob Bryan in 2004.^[8] In 2008, after dating for two years, García became engaged to Trace Ayala, Justin Timberlake's business partner and childhood friend.^[9]